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CABBAGES: 



HOW TO GROW THEM 



A PKACTICAL 

c 



Crtatise Bu Ciiblrage Culture, 



GIVING FULL DETAILS OX EVERY POTXT, IXCLUDIXG 
KEEPIXG AXD MARKETIXG THE CHOP. 






JAMES J^'llf GREGORY, 

INTRODUCER OF THK MAKBLEHEAD CABBAGES. 



SALEM, MASS.: 
obsi:rvi::i steam prixt. 

1S7S, 



SB33/ 

9? 3 

I ?78- 



Entered arcording to Act of Conj^ress, in the year 1870, by 

JAMES J. H. GREGORY, 

At the Ch-rh's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



tmt. Qfflo© Lite. 
4|Mr4JUll4L 



COI^^ TENTS. 



Page. 

Object of Treatise 3 

Tlie Origin of Cabbage 3 

"Wliat a Cabbage is 4 

Selecting the Soil 6 

Preparing the Soil 7 

The Manure 8 

How to Apply the Manure 10 

Making the Hills and Planting 

the Seed 12 

Care of the Young Plants 16 

Protecting the Plants from their 

Enemies 18 

The Green Worm 21 

Club or Stump Foot 22 

Care of the Growing Crop 27 

Marketing the Crop 28 

Keeping Cabbages through the 

Winter 30 

Having Cabbage Make Heads in 

Winter 36 

Varieties of Cabbage 38 

Early York 40 

Large York 40 

Early Oxheart 41 

Early Sugar Loaf 41 

Early Winnigstadt 41 

Red Dutch 42 

Red Drumhead. 42 

The Little Pixie 43 

Early Schweinfurt, or 

Schweinfurt Quintal 44 

Early Wakefield 45 

Early Wyman 45 

Premium Flat Dutch 46 

Early Low Dutch 47 

Stone Mason 47 

Large Late Drumhead 48 

Marblehead Mammoth 49 

American Green Glazed. ... 50 



Page. 

Fottler's Early Drumhead 50 

Bergen Drumhead 51 

Cannon Ball. . .- 51 

Savoy Cabbage 52 

Drumhead Savoy 52 

Pancalier 53 

Early Ulm Savoy 53 

Early Dwarf Savoy 54 

Improved American Savoy 54 

Golden Savoy 54 

Norwegian Savoy 54 

Victoria, Russian, Cape Savoys 55 

Feather Stemmed Savoy 55 

Large Brunswick Short Stem'd 55 

Early Empress 65 

Robinson's Champion Ox 

Drumhead 55 

English Winnigstadt 55 

Blenheim 55 

Shillings Queen 55 

Carter's Superfine Early Dwarf 55 

Enfield Market Improved 56 

Kemp's Incomparable — 56 

Fielderkraut 56 

Ramsay's Winter Drumhead. . 56 

Pomeranian Cabbage 56 

Alsacian Cabbage 56 

Marbled Burgogne 56 

Early Dutch Drumhead 56 

Cabbage Greens 56 

Cabbage for Stock 58 

Raising Cabbage Seed 61 

Cooking Cabbage, Bour Krout, 

etc. 62 

Cabbage Under Glass 64 

Cold Frame and Hot Bed 66 

Cauliflower, Broccoli, Brussels 
Sprouts, Kale and Sea Kale. . 68 



OBJECT OP THIS TREATISE. 

As a general yet very thorough response to inquirier 
from many of my customers about cabbage raising, . 
have aimed in this treatise to tell them all about tht 
subject. The different inquiries made from time to time 
"have given me a pretty clear idea of the many heads 
under which information is wanted ; and it has been my 
aim to give this with the same thoroughness of detail 
as in my little work on Squashes. I have endeavored 
to talk in a very practical way, drawing from a large 
observation and experience, and receiving, in describing 
varieties, some valuable information from Mcintosh's 
work, " The Book of the Garden." 

THE okigi:n' or cabbage. 

Botanists tell us that all of the Cabbage family, which 
includes not only every variety of cabbage, Red, White, 
and Savoy, but all the cauliflower, broccoli, kale, and 
brussels sprouts, had their origin in the wild cabbage of 
Europe, (^Brassica oleracea,') a plant with green, w^avy 
leaves, much resembling charlock, found growing wild 
at Dover in England, and other parts of Europe. This 
plant, says Mcintosh, is mostly confined to the sea 
shore, and grows only on chalky or calcareous soils. 

Thus through the wisdom of the Great Father of us 
all, who occasionally in his great garden allows vegeta- 
bles to sport into a higher form of life, and grants tc 
some of these sports sufficient strength of individuality 
to enable them to perpetuate themselves, and at times to 



4 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

blend their individuality with that of other sports, we 
have the heading cabbage in its numerous varieties, the 
creamy cauliflower, the feathery iiale, the curled savoy. 
On my own grounds from a strain of seed that had been 
grown isolated for years, there recently came a plant that 
in its structure closely resembled Brussels Sprouts, grow- 
ing about two feet in height, with a small head under each 
leaf The cultivated cabbage was first introduced into 
England by the Komans, and from there nearly all the 
kinds cultivated in this country were originally brought. 
Those which we consider as peculiarly American varie- 
ties, have only been made so by years of careful improve- 
ment on the original imported sorts. The characteristics 
of these varieties will be given farther on. 

WHAT A CABBAGE IS. 

If we cut vertically through tlie middle of the head, 
we shall find it made up of successive layers of leaves, 
which grow smaller und smaller, almost ad infinitum. 
Now if we take a fruit bud from an apple tree and make 
a similar section of it, we shall find the same structure. 
If we observe the development of the two, as Spring 
advances, we shall find another similarity (the looser 
the head the closer will be the resemblance), — the outer 
leaves of each will unwrap and unfold, and a blossom 
stem will push out from each. Hence we see that a 
cabbage is a bud, a seed bud, as all fruit buds may be 
termed, the production of seed being the primary object 
in nature., the fruit enclosing it playing but a secondary 
part, the office of the leaves being to cover, protect, and 
afterwards nourish the young seed shoot. The outer 
leaves which surround the head appear to have the same 
office as the leaves which surround the growing fruit 
bud, and that office closes with the first year, as does 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 5 

that of the leaves surrounding fruit buds, when each 
die and drop off. In my locality the public must have 
perceived more or less clearly the analogy between the 
heads of cabbage and the buds of trees, for when they 
speak of small heads they frequently call them " buds." 
That the close wrapped leaves which make the cabbage 
liead and surround the seed germ, situated just in the 
middle of the head at the termination of tlie stump, are 
necessary for its protection and nutrition when young, 
is proved, I think, by the fact that those cabbages the 
heads of which are much decayed, when set out for 
seed, no matter how sound the seed germ may be at the 
end of the stump, never make so large or healthy a seed 
shoot as those do the heads of which are sound ; as a 
rule, after pushing a feeble growth, they die. 

For this reason I believe that the office of the head is 
similar to and as necessary as that of the leaves which 
unwrap from around the blossom buds of our fruit trees. 
It is true that the parallel cannot be fully maintained, 
as the leaves which make up the cabbage head do not to 
an equal degree unfold, (particularly is this true of 
hard heads) ; yet they exhibit a vitality of their own, 
which is seen in the deeper green color the outer leaves 
soon attain, and the change from tenderness to tough- 
ness in their structure ; I think, therefore, that the 
degree of failure in the parallel may be measured by the 
difference between a higher and a lower form of organic 
life. 

Some advocate the economy of cutting off a large por- 
tion of the heads when cabbages are set out for seed to 
use as food for stock. There is certainly a great temp- 
t&,tion, standing amid acres of large, solid heads in the 
early Spring months, when green food of all kinds is 



6 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

scarce, to cut and use such an immense amount of rich 
food, which, to the inexperienced eye, appears to be 
utterly wasted if left to decay, dry, and fall to the 
ground ; but, for the reason given above, I have never 
done so. It is possible that large heads may bear trim- 
ming to a degree without injury to the seed crop ; yet I 
should consider this an experiment, and one to be tried 
with a good deal of caution. 

SELECTING THE SOIL. 

In some of the best cabbage growing sections of the 
country, until within a comparatively few years it was 
the very general belief that cabbage would not do well 
on upland. Accordingly the cabbaoje patch would be 
found on the lowest tillage land of the farm. No doubt, 
the lowest soil being the richer from a gradual accumu- 
lation of the wash from the upland, when manure was 
but sparingly used, cabbage would thrive better there 
than elsewhere, — and not, as was generally held, because 
that vegetable needed more moisture than any other 
crop. Cabbage can be raised with success on any good 
corn land, provided such land is well manured ; and 
there is no more loss in seasons of drouth on such 
land than there is in seasons of excessive moisture on 
the lower tillage land of the farm. I wish I could preach 
a very loud sermon to all my farmer friends on the 
great value of liberal manuring to carry crops success- 
fully through the effects of a severe drouth. Crops on 
soil precisely alike, with but a wall to separate them, 
will in a very dry season present a striking difference, — 
the one being in fine vigor, and the other " suffering 
from drouth," as the owner will tell you, but in reality 
from want of food. 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 7 

The smaller varieties of cabbage will thrive well on 
either light or strong soil, but the largest drumheads do 
best on strong soil. For the Brassica family, including 
cabbages, cauliflowers, turnips, etc., there is no soil so 
suitable as freshly turned sod, provided the surface is 
well fined by the harrow, and it is well to have as stout 
a crop of clover or grass, growing on this sod when 
turned under as possible ; and I incline to the belief that 
it would be a judicious investment to start a thick 
growth of these by the application of guano to the sur- 
face sufficiently long before turning the sod to allow 
for its effects on the growth of the clover or grass. If 
the soil be very sandy in character, I would advise that 
the variety planted be the Winnigstadt, which in my 
experience is unexcelled for making a hard head under 
almost any conditions, however unpropitious. Should 
the soil be naturally very wet it should be underdrained, 
or stump foot will be very likely to appear, which is 
death to all success. 

PEEPARIXG THE SOIL. 

Should the soil be a heavy clay, a deep Fall ploughing 
is best, that the frosts of Winter may disintegrate it ; 
and should the plan be to raise an early crop, this end 
will be promoted by Fall ploughing, on any soil, as the 
land will thereby be made dryer in early Spring. In 
New England the soil for cabbages should be ploughed 
as deep as the subsoil, and the larger drumheads should 
be planted only on the deepest soil. If the season 
should prove a favorable one, a good crop of cabbage 
may be grown on sod broken up immediately after a 
crop of hay has been taken from it, provided plenty oi' 
fine manure is harrowed in. One great risk here is 



8 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

from the dry weather that usually prevails at that 
season, preventing the prompt germination of the seed, 
or rooting of the plants. It is prudent in such a case 
to have a good stock of plants, that such as die may be 
promptly replaced. 

The manure may be spread on the surface of either 
sod or stubble land and ploughed under, or be spread 
on the surface after ploughing and thoroughly worked 
into the soil by the gang plough or cultivator. On 
ploughed sod I have found nothing so satisfactory as 
the class of wheel harrows, which not only cut the ma- 
nure up fine and work it well under, but by the same 
operation can be made to cut and pulverize the turf until 
the sod is left not over an inch in thickness. To do the 
work thus thoroughly requires a yoke of oxen or a pair 
of stout horses. All large stones and large pieces of 
turf that are torn up and brought to the surface should 
be carted off before making the hills. 

THE MAITUKE. 

Any manure but hog manure for cabbage, — barn ma- 
nure, rotten kelp, night soil, guano, phosphates, wood 
ashes, fish, salt, glue waste, hen manure, slaughter-house 
manure. I have used all of these, and found them all 
good when rightly applied. If pure hog manure is used 
it is apt to produce that corpulent enlargement of the , 
roots known in different localities as " stump foot,'' 
" underground head," " finger and thumb." I have 
found barn manure on which hogs have run, two hogs 
to each animal, excellent. The cabbage is the rankest 
of feeders, and to perfect the larger sort a most liberal 
allowance of the richest composts is required. To grow 
the smaller varieties either barn-yard manure, guano, 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 9 

phosphates, or wood ashes, if the soil be in good condi- 
tion, will answer ; though the richer and more abundant 
the manure the larger are the cabbages, and the earlier 
the crop will mature. 

To perfect the large varieties of drumhead — by which 
I mean to make them grow to the greatest size possible — 
I want a strong compost of barn-yard manure, with 
night soil and muck, and, if possible, rotten kelp. A 
compost into which night soil enters as a component is 
best made by first covering a plot of ground of easy 
access, with soil or muck that has been exposed to a 
winter's frost, to tlie depth of about eigliteen inches, 
and raising around this a rim about three feet in height, 
and thickness. Into this the night soil is poured from 
carts built for the purpose, until the receptacle is about 
two-thirds full. Barn manure is now added, being 
dropped around and covering the outer rim, and if the 
supply is sufficient, on the top of the heap also, on 
which it can be carted after cold weather sets in. Early 
in Spring the entire mass should be pitched over, 
thoroughly broken up with the bar and pick where 
frozen, and the frozen masses thrown on the surface. 
In pitching over the mass work the rim in towards the 
middle of the heap. After the frozen lumps have 
thawed give the heap another pitching over, aiming to 
mix all the materials thoroughly together, and make 
the entire mass as fine as possible. A covering of sand 
thrown over the heap before the last pitching will help 
fine it. 

To produce a good crop of cabbages with a compost 
of this quality, from five to twefve cords will be required 
to the acre. If the land is in good heart by previous 
high cultivation, or the soil is naturally very strong, 



10 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

five cords will give a fair crop of the small varieties ; 
while, with the same conditions, from nine to twelve 
cords to the acre will be required to perfect the largest 
variety grown, the Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead. 

Of the other kinds of manure named above I will 
treat farther under the head of 

HOW TO APPLY THE MANUEE. 

The manure is sometimes applied wholly in the hill, 
at other times partly broadcast and partly in the hill. 
If the farmer desires to make the utmost use of his ma- 
nure for that season, it will be best to put most of it into 
the hill, particularly if his supply runs rather short; 
but if he desires to leave his land in good condition for 
next year's crop, he had better use part of it broadcast. 
My own practice is to use all my rich compost broadcast, 
and depend on guano, phosphates, or hen manure in 
the hill. Let all guano, if at all lumpy, like the Peru- 
vian, be sifted, and let all the hard lumps be reduced by 
pounding, until the largest pieces shall not be larger 
than half a pea, before it is brought upon the ground. 
My land being ready, the compost worked under and 
the rows marked out, I select three trusty hands who 
can be relied upon to follow faithfully my directions in 
applying so dangerous manure as guano is in careless or 
ignorant hands ; one takes a bucket of it, and, if for 
large cabbage, drops as much as he can readily close in 
his hand, where each hill is to be ; if for small sorts, 
then about half that quantity, spreading it over a circle 
about a foot in diameter; the second man follows with 
a pronged hoe, or betfer yet, a six-tined fork, with 
which he works the guano well into the soil, first turning 
it three or four inches under the surface, and then stir- 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 11 

ring the soil very thoroughly with the hoe or fork. Unless 
the guano (and this is also true of most phosphates), is 
faithfully mixed up with the soil, the seed will not veg- 
etate. Give the second man about an hour the start, 
and then let the third man follow with the seed. Of 
phosphates I use about half as much again as of guano 
to each hill, and of hen manure a heaping handful, after 
it has been finely broken up, and, if moist, slightly 
mixed with dry earth. When salt is used, it should not 
be depended on exclusively, but be used in connection 
with other manures at the rate of from ten to fifteen 
bushels to the acre, applied broadcast over the ground, 
or thoroughly mixed with the manure before that is 
applied ; if dissolved in the manure, better yet. Fish 
and glue waste are exceedingly powerful manures, very 
rich in ammonia, and if used the first season they should 
be in compost. It is best to handle fish waste, such as 
heads, entrails, backbones, and liver waste, precisely 
like night soil. '• Porgy cheese," or " chum," the ref- 
use after pressing out the oil from menhaden, and now 
sold extensively for manure, is best prepared for use by 
composting it with muck or loam, layer with layer, at 
the rate of a barrel to every foot and a half, cord meas- 
ure, of soil. As soon as it shows some heat turn it, and 
repeat the process two or three times, until it is well 
decomposed, when apply. Glue waste is a very coarse, 
lumpy manure, and requires a great deal of severe ma- 
nipulation if it is to be applied the first season. A 
better way is to compost it with soil, layer with layer, 
having each layer about a foot in thickness, and so 
allow it to remain over until the next season before 
using. This will decompose most of the straw, and 
break down the hard, tough lumps. In applying this 



12 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC, 

to the crop; most of it had better be used broadcast, as 
it is apt at best to be rather too coarse and concentrated 
to be used liberally directly in the hill. Slaughter-house 
manure should be treated much like glue manure. 

MAKIKG THE HILLS AND PLAKTIITG THE SEED. 

The idea is quite prevalent that cabbages will not head 
up well except the plants are started in beds and the;i 
transplanted into the hills where they are to mature. 
This is an error, so far as it applies to the northern states; 
— the largest and most experienced cultivators of cab- 
bage in New England usually dropping the seed directly 
where the plants are to stand, unless they are first 
started under glass, or the piece of land to be planted 
cannot be prepared in season to enable the farmer to 
put his seed directly in the hill and yet give the cabbage 
time sufficient to mature. Where the climate is unpro- 
pitious, or the quantity of manure applied is insufficient, 
it is possible that transplanting may promote heading. 
The advantages of planting directly in the hill are a 
saving of time, avoiding the risks incidental to trans- 
planting, and having all the piece start alike ; for when 
transplanted many die and have to be replaced, while 
some hesitate much longer than others before starting, 
thus making a want of uniformity in the maturing of the 
crop. There is also this advantage, there being several 
plants in each hill, the cut-worm has to depredate pretty 
severely before he really injures the piece ; again, should 
the seed riot vegetate in any of the hills, every farmer 
will appreciate the advantage of having healthy plants 
growing so near at hand that they can be transferred to 
the vacant spaces with their roots so undisturbed that 
their growth is hardly checked. In addition to the labor 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 13 

of transplanting saved by this plan, the great clieck that 
plants always receive when so treated is prevented, and 
also the extra risks that occur should a season of drouth 
follow. 

Some of our best farmers drill their seed in with a 
sowing machine, such as is used for onions, carrots, and 
Dther vegetable crops. This is a very expeditious way, 
and has the advantage of leaving the plants in rows 
instead of bunches, as in the hill system, and thus 
enables the hoe to do most of the work: of thinning. 
It has also this advantage, each plant being by itself 
can be left much longer before thinning, and yet not 
grow long in the stump, thus making it available for 
transplanting, or for sale in the market, for a longer 
period. 

The usual way of preparing the liills is to strike out 
furrows with a small, one-horse plough, as far apart as 
the rows are to be. As it is very important that the 
rows should be as straight as practicable, it is a good 
plan to run back once in each furrow, particularly on 
sod land where the plough will be apt to catcli in the 
turf and jump out of line. A manure team follows, 
containing the dressing for the hills, which has 
previously been pitched over and beaten up until all the 
ingredients are fine and well mixed. This team is so 
driven, if possible, as to avoid running in the furrows. 
Two or three hands follow with forks or shovels, pitching 
the manure into the furrows at the distance apart that 
has been determined on for the hills. The manure is 
leveled with hoes, a little soil is drawn over it, and a 
slight stamp with the back of the hoe is given to level 
this soil and at the same time to mark the hill. The 
planter follows with seed in a tin box, or any small ves- 



14 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

sel having a broad bottom, and taking a small pinch be- 
tween the thumb and fore finger he gives a slight scratch 
with the remaining fingers of the same hand, and drop- 
ping in about half a dozen seed covers them half an inch 
deep with a sweep of the hand, and packs the earth by 
a gentle pat with the open palm to keep the moisture in 
the ground and thus promote the vegetation of the seed. 
With care a quarter of a pound of seed will plant an 
acre, when dropped directly in the hills ; but half a 
pound is the common allowance, as there is usually some 
waste from spilling, while' most laborers plant with a 
free hand. 

The soil over the hills being very light and porous, 
careless hands are apt to drop the seed too deep. Care 
should be taken not to drop the seed all in one spot, but 
to scatter them over a surface of two or three inches 
square, that each plant may have room to develop with- 
out crowding its neighbors. 

If the seed is to be drilled in, it will be necessary to 
scatter the manure all along the furrows, then cover 
with a plough, roughly leveling with a rake. 

Should the compost applied to the hills be very con- 
centrated, it will be apt to produce soump foot ; it will 
therefore be safest in such cases to hollow out the middle 
with the corner of the hoe, or draw the hoe through and 
fill in with earth, that the roots of the young plants may 
not come in direct contact with the compost as soon as 
they begin to push. 

When'guano or phosphates are used in the hills it will 
be well to mark out the rows with a plough, and then, 
where each hill is to be, fill in the soil level to the sur- 
face with a hoe, before applying them. I have in a pre- 
vious paragraph given full instructions how to apply 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 15 

these. Hen manure, if moist, should be broken up very 
fine, and be mixed with some dry earth to prevent it 
from again lumping together, and then applied in suf- 
ficient quantity to make an equivalent of a heaping 
handful of pure hen manure to each hill. Any liquid 
manure is excellent for the cabbage crop ; but it should 
be well diluted, or it will be likely to produce stump foot. 

Cabbage seed of almost all varieties are nearly round 
in form, but are not so spherical as turnip seed. I note, 
however, that seed of the Improved American Savoy is 
nearly oval. In color they are light brown when first 
gathered, but gradually turn dark brown if not gathered 
too early. An ounce contains nearly ten thousand seed, 
but should not be relied upon for many over two thou- 
sand good plants, and these are available for about as 
many hills only when raised in beds and transplanted ; 
when dropped directly in the hills it will take not far 
from eight ounces of the larger sorts to plant an acre, 
and of the smaller cabbage rather more than this. 
Cabbage seed when well cured and kept in close bags 
will retain their vitality four or five years ; old garden- 
ers prefer seed of all the cabbage family two or three 
years old. 

When the plan is to raise the young plants in beds to 
be transplanted, the ground selected for the beds should 
be of rich soil ; tliis should be very thoroughly dug, and 
the surface vv^orked and raked very fine, every stone and 
lump of earth being removed. Now sprinkle the seed 
evenly over the bed and gently rake in just under the 
surface, compacting the soil by pressure with a board. 
As soon as the young plants appear, sprinkle them with 
air-slaked lime. Transplant when three or four inches 
high, being very careful not to let the plant get tall and 
weak. 



16 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

For late cabbage, in the latitude of Boston, to have 
cabbages ready for market about the first of November, 
the Marblehead Mammoth should be planted the 20th 
of May, other late drumheads from June 1st to June 
12th, provided the plants are not to be transplanted ; 
otherwise a week earlier. In those localities where the 
growing season is later, the seed should be planted 
proportionally later. 

CAEE OF THE YOUNG PLANTS. 

In four or five days, if the weather is propitious, the 
young plants will begin to break ground, presenting at 
the surface two leaves, which together make nearly a 
square, like the first leaves of turnips or radishes. 
As soon as the third leaf is developed, go over the 
piece, and boldly thin out the plants. Wherever they 
are very thick, pull a mass of them with the fingers and 
thumb, being careful to fill up the hole made with fine 
earth. After the fourth leaf is developed, go over the 
piece again and thin still more ; you need specially to 
guard against a slender, weak growth, which will hap- 
pen when the plants are too crowded. In thinning, 
leave the short-stumped plants, and leave them as far 
apart in the hill as possible, that they may not shade 
each other, or so interfere in growing as to make long 
stumps. If there is any market for young plants, thou- 
sands can be sold from an acre when the seed are 
planted in the hill ; but in doing this bear in mind that 
your principal object is to raise cabbages, and to succeed 
in this the young plants must on no account be allowed 
to stand so long together in the hills as to crowd each 
other, making a tall, weak, slender growth, — getting 
" long legged," as the farmers call it. 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 17 

If the manure in any of the hills is too strong, the 
fact will be known by its effects on the plants, which 
will be checked in their growth, and be of a darker 
green color than the healthy plants. Gently pull away 
the earth from the roots of such with the fingers, and | 
draw around fresh earth ; or, what is as well or better, 
transplant a healthy plant just on the edge of the hill. 
When the plants are finger high they are of a good size 
to transplant into such hills as have missed, or to market. ' 
When transplanting, select a rainy day, if possible, and 
do not begin until sufficient rain has fallen to moisten! 
the earth around the roots, which will make it morej 
likely to adhere to them when taken up. Take up the 
young plants by running the finger or a trowel under 
them ; put these into a flat basket or box, and in trans- 
planting set them to the same depth they originally 
grew, pressing the earth a little about the roots. 

If it is necessary to do the transplanting in a dry 
spell, as usually happens, select the latter part of the 
afternoon, if practicable, and, making holes with a 
dibble or any pointed stick an inch and a half in diam- 
eter, fill these holes, a score or more at a time, with 
water ; and as soon as the water is about soaked away, 
beginning with the hole first filled, set out your plants. 
The evaporation of the moisture below the roots will 
keep them moist until they get a hold. Cabbage plants 
have great tenacity of life, and will rally and grow 
when they appear to be dead ; the leaves may all die, 
and dry up like hay, but if the stump stands erect and 
the unfolded leaf at the top of the stump is alive, the 
plant will usually survive. Some advocate wilting the 
plants before transplanting ; others challenge their vigor 
by making it a rule to do all transplanting under the 
heat of mid-day. I think there is not much of reason 
in either course. 



18 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

PROTECTING THE PLAJ^TS PROM THEIR ENEMIES. 

As soon as they have broken through the soil, an enemy 
awaits them in the small black insect commonly known 
as the cabbage or turnip fly, beetle, or flea. This insect, 
though so small as to appear to the eye as a black dot^ 
is very voracious and surprisingly active. He apparently 
feeds on the juice of the young plant, perforating it witli 
small holes the size of a pin point. He is so active when 
disturbed that his motions cannot be followed by the 
eye, and his sense of danger is so keen that only by 
cautiously approaching the plant can he be seen at all. 
The delay of a single day in protecting the young plants 
from his ravages will sometimes be the destruction of 
nearly the entire piece. Wood ashes and air-slaked 
lime, sprinkled upon the plants while the leaves are 
moist from either rain or dew, afford almost complete 
protection. The lime or ashes should be applied as 
soon as the plant can be seen, for then, when they are 
in their tenderest condition, the fly is most destructive. 
I am not certain that the alkaline nature of these affords 
the protection, or whether a mere covering by common 
dust might not answer equally well. Should the covering 
be washed off by rain, apply it anew immediately after 
the rain has ceased, and so continue to keep the young 
plants covered until the third or fourth leaves appear, 
when they will have become too tough to serve as food 
for this insect enemy. 

A new enemy much dreaded by all cabbage raisers will 
begin to make his appearance at about the time the flea 
disappears, known as the cut-worm. This worm is of 
a dusky brown color, with a dark colored head, and 
varies in size up to about two inches in length. He 
burrows in the ground just below the surface, is slow of 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 19 

motion, and does his mischievous work at night, 
gnawing off the young plants close at the surface of the 
ground. This enemy is hard to battle with. If the 
patch be small, these worms can be scratched out of 
their hiding places by pulling the earth carefully away j 
the following morning for a few inches around the 
stump of the plant destroyed, when the rascals will! 
usually be found half coiled together. Dropping a little 
wood ashes around the plants close to the stumps is one i 
of' the best of remedies ; its alkaline properties burning; 
his nose I presume. A tunnel of paper put around the 
stump but not touching it, and sunk just below the sur. 
face, is recommended as efficacious ; and from the hab- 
its of the worm I should think it would prove so. Late 
planted cabbage will suffer little or none from this pest, 
as he disappears about the middle of June. Some sea* 
sons they are remarkably numerous ; making it neces- 
sary to replant portions of the cabbage patch several 
times over. I have heard of as many as twenty being 
dug at different times the same season out of one cab- 
bage hill. The farmer who tilled that patch earned his 
dollars. When the cabbage has a stump the size of a 
pipe stem it is beyond the destructive ravages of the cut 
worm, and should it escape stump foot has usually quite 
a period of growth free from the attacks of enemies. 
Should the season prove unpropitious and the plant be 
checked in its growth, it will be apt to become '' lousy," 
as the farmers term it, referring to its condition when 
attacked by a small green insect known as aphidae, 
which preys upon it in myriads ; when this is the case 
the leaves lose their bright green, turn of a bluish cast, 
the leaf stocks lose somewhat of their supporting pow- 
ers, the leaves curl up into irregular shapes, and the 



20 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

lower layer turns black and drops off, while the ground 
under the plant appears covered with the casts or 
bodies of the insects as with a white powder. When in 
this condition the plants are in a very bad way. 

Considering the circumstances under which this in- 
sect appears, usually in a very dry season, I hold that it 
is rather the product than the cause of disease, as with 
the bark louse on our apple trees ; as a remedy I advo- 
cate sprinkling the plants with air-slaked lime, watering 
if possible, and a frequent and thorough stirring of the 
soil with the cultivator and hoe. The better the oppor- 
tunities the cabbage have to develop themselves through 
high manuring, sufficient moisture, good drainage, and 
thorough cultivation, the less liable they are to be 
" lousy.'' As the season advances there will sometimes 
be found patches eaten out of the leaves, leaving nothing 
but the skeleton of leaf veins ; an examination will 
show a band of caterpillars of a light green color at 
work, who feed in a compact mass, oftentimes a square, 
with as much regularity as though under the best of 
military discipline. The readiest way to dispose of 
them is to break off the leaf and crush them under foot. 
The common large red caterpillar occasionally preys on 
the plants, eating large holes in the leaves especially 
about the head. When the cabbage plot is bordered by 
grass land, in seasons when grasshoppers are plenty, 
they will frequently destroy the outer rows, puncturing 
the leaves with small holes and feeding on them until 
little besides their skeletons remain. In isolated loca- 
tions rabbits and other vegetable feeders sometimes 
commit depredations. The snare and the shot gun are 
the remedy for these. 

Other insects that prey upon the cabbage tribe, in 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 21 

their caterpillar state, are the cabbage moth, white-line, 
brown-eyed moth, large white garden butterfly, white 
and green veined butterfly. All of these produce cater- 
pillars which can be destroyed either by application of 
air-slaked lime, or by removing the leaves infested and 
crushing the intruders under foot. The cabbage-fly, 
father-long-legs, the mellipedes, the blue cabbage fly, 
brassy cabbage flea, and two or three other insect ene- 
mies are mentioned by Mcintosh as infesting the cab- 
bage fields of England ; also three species of fungi 
known as white rust, mildew, and cylindrosporium con- 
centricum ; these last are destroyed by the sprinkling of 
air-slaked lime on the leaves. In this country, along 
the sea coast of the northern section, in open ground 
cultivation there is comparatively but little injury done 
by these marauders, which are the cause of so much 
annoyance and loss to our English cousins. 

THE GREEN WORM. 
A new and troublesome enemy to the cabbage tribe 
has made its appearance within a few years, and spread 
rapidly over a large section of country, in a green 
worm. This pest infests the cabbage tribe at all stages 
of its growth ; it is believed to have been recently in- 
troduced into this country from Europe, by the way 
of Canada, where it was brought in a lot of cabbage. 
It is probably the caterpillar of a white butterfly with 
black spots on its wings. In Europe, this butterfly is 
preyed on by two or more parasites, which keep it some- 
what in check ; but its remarkably rapid increase in this 
country, causing a wail of lamentation to rise in a single 
season from the cabbage growers over areas of tens of 
thousands of square miles, leads me to fear that it has 
reached this country without its attendant parasites. 



22 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

Besides this green worm, there are found in Europe a 
green caterpillar marked with grey or black, and having 
a dark stripe down the back and a dirty yellow one down 
each side, the moth of which is of a dusky brown color; 
another caterpillar of a greenish yellow color with black 
spots ; a third, green with small yellow rings on the 
sides of the body ; and a fourth green, with orange 
stripes down the back and sides. All these make great 
havoc in Europe among the cabbage tribe. 

The remedies given by European writers, are sprink- 
ling witli clarified lime-water, dusting with air-slaked 
lime, hellebore, or Scotch snuff. An admixture of car- 
bonate and carbolate of lime, dusted on, has proved a 
protective in this country. Large areas in cabbage, in 
l^roportion to their size are, as a rule, far less injured by 
insect enemies than small patches. 

CLUB OR STUMP TOOT. 
The great dread of every cabbage grower is a disease 
of the branching roots, producing a bunchy, gland-like 
enlargement, known in different localities under the 
name of club foot, stump foot, underground head, linger 
and thumb. The result is a check in the ascent of the 
sap, which causes a defective vitality. There are two 
theories as to the origin of club foot ; one that it is a 
disease caused by poor soil, bad cultivation, and unsuita- 
ble manures ; the other that the injury is done by an 
insect enemy, Curculio contractus. It is held by some 
that the maggots at the root are the progeny of the cab- 
bage flea; this I doubt. This insect, "piercing the 
skin of the root, deposits its eggs in the holes, lives 
during a time on the sap of the plant, and then escapes 
and buries itself for a time in the soil." 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 23 

If the wart or gland-like excrescence is seen while 
transplanting, tlirow all such plants away unless your 
supply is short ; in such case carefully trim off all the 
diseased portions with a sharp knife. If the disease is 
in the growing crop, it will be made evident by the 
drooping of the leaves under the mid-day sun, leaves of 
diseased plants drooping more than those of healthy 
ones, while they will usually have a bluer cast. Should 
this disease show itself, set the cultivator going immedi- 
ately, and follow with the hoe, drawing up fresh earth 
around the plants, which will encourage them to form 
new fibrous roots ; should they do this freely the plants 
will be saved, as the attacks of the insect are usually 
confined to the coarse branching roots. Should the dis- 
ease prevail as late as when the plants have reached 
half their growth, the chances are decidedly against 
raising a paying crop. 

When the land planted is too wet, or the manure in 
the hill is too strong, this dreaded disease is liable to be 
found on any soil ; but it is most likely to manifest itself 
on soils that have been previously cropped with cabbage, 
turnip, or some other member of the Brassica family. 

Farmers find that as a rule it is not safe to follow 
cahharjey ricta baga, or any of the Brassica family, ivith 
calhage, unless three or four years have intervened be- 
tween the cro2:)s ; and I have known an instance in 
growing the Marblehead Mammoth, where, though five 
years had intervened, that portion of the piece occupied 
by the previous crop could be distinctly marked off by 
the presence of club foot. 

Singular as it may appear, old gardens are an excep- 
tion to this rule. While it is next to impossible to raise 
in old gardens a fair turnip free from club-foot, cab- 
bages may be raised year after year on the same soil 



24 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

with impunity, or at least with but trifling injury from 
that disease. This seems to prove, contrary to EngUsh 
authority, that club-foot in the turnip tribe is the effect 
of a different cause from the same disease in the cab- 
bage family. 

There is another position taken by Stephens in his 
" Book of the Farm," which facts seem to disprove. 
He puts forth the theory that " all such diseases arise 
from poverty of the soil, either from want of manure 
when the soil is naturally poor, or rendered effete by 
over-cropping." There is a farm on a neck of land be- 
longing to this town which has peculiar advantages for 
collecting sea kelp and sea moss, and these manures are 
there used most liberally, particularly for the cultivation 
of cabbage, from eight to twelve cords of rotton kelp; 
which is stronger than barn manure and more suitable 
food for cabbage, being used to the acre. A few years 
ago, on a change of tenants, the new incumbent heavily 
manured a piece for cabbage and planted it ; but as the 
season advanced stump foot developed in every cabbage 
on one side of the piece, while all the remainder were 
healthy. Upon inquiry he learned that by mistake he 
had overlapped the cabbage plot of last season just so 
far as the stump foot extended. In this instance it 
could not have been tliat the cabbage suffered for want 
of food, for not only was the piece heavily manured that 
year and the year previous, but it had been liberally' 
manured through a series of years, and to a large ex- 
tent with the manure which of all others the cabbage 
tribe delight in, rotten kelp and sea mosses. I have 
known other instances where soil naturally quite strong 
and kept heavily manured for a series of years has 
shown stump foot when cabbage were planted with inter- 
vals of two and three years between. My theory is that 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 25 

the mere presence of the cabbage causes stump foot on 
succeeding crops grown on the same soil. This is 
proved by the fact that where a piece of land in grass, 
close adjoining a piece of growing cabbage, had been 
used for stripping them for market, when this was broken 
up the next season and planted to cabbage, stump foot 
appeared only on that portion where the waste leaves 
fell the year previous. I have another instance to the 
same point, told me by an observing farmer, that on a 
piece of sod land on which he run his cultivator the year 
previous when turning his horse every time he had cul- 
tivated a row, he had stump footed cabbage the next 
season just as far as that cultivator went, dragging, of 
course, a few leaves and a little earth from the cabbage 
piece with it. Still, though the mere presence cf cab- 
bage causes stump foot, it is a fact that under certain 
conditions cabbage can be grown oii the same piece of 
land year after year successfully, with but very little 
trouble from stump foot. In this town (]>Iarblehead) 
though, as I have stated, we cannot on our farms follow 
cabbage with cabbage, even with the highest of manur- 
ing and cultivation, yet in the gardens of tlie town, on 
the same kind of soil, (and our soil is green stone and 
syenite, not naturally containing lime,) there are in- 
stances where cabbage have been successfully followed 
by cabbage on the same spot for a quarter of a century 
and more. In the garden of an aged citizen of this 
town, cabbages have been raised on the same spot of land 
for over half a century. 

The cause of stump foot cannot therefore be found in 
the poverty of the soil, either from want of manure or 
its having been rendered efiete from over-cropping. It 
is evident that by long cultivation soils gradually have 
diffused through them something that proves inimical 



26 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

to the disease that produces stump foot. I will suggest 
as probable that the protection is afforded by tiie pres- 
ence of some alkali that old gardens are constantly ac- 
quiring through house waste which is always finding its 
way there, particularly the slops from the sink, which 
abound in potash. This is rendered further probable 
from the fact given by Mr. Peter Henderson, that, on 
soils in this vicinity, naturally abounding in lime, cab- 
bage can be raised year following year with almost im- 
munity from stump foot. He ascribes this to the effects 
of lime in tlie soil derived from marine shells, and re- 
commends that lime from bones be used to secure the 
same protection ; but the lime that enters into the com- 
position of marine shells is for the most part carbonate 
of lime, whereas the greater portion of that which enters 
into the composition of bones is phosphate of lime. 
Common air-slaked lime is almost pure carbonate of 
lime, and hence comes nearer to the composition of 
marine shells than lime from bones, and, being much 
cheaper, would appear to be preferable. 

An able farmer told me that by using wood ashes lib- 
erally he could follow with cabbage the next season on 
the same piece. An experiment of my own in this di- 
rection did not prove successful, where ashes at the rate 
of two hundred bushels to the acre were used ; and I 
have an impression that I have read of a like want of 
success after quite liberal applications of lime. Still, 
it remains evident, I think, that nature prevents stump 
foot by the diffusing of alkalies through the soil, and 
I mistrust that the reason why we sometimes fail with 
the same remedies is that we have them mixed, rather 
than intimately combined, with the particles of soil. 

As I have stated under another head, an attack of 
club foot is almost sure to follow the use of pure hog 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 27 

manure, whether it be used broadcast or in the hill. 
About ten years ago I ventured to use hog manure 
nearly pure, spread broadcast and ploughed in. Stump 
foot soon showed itself. I cultivated and hoed the 
cabbage thoroughly ; then, as they still appeared sickly, 
I had the entire piece thoroughly dug over with a 
six-tined fork, pushing it as deep or deeper into the 
soil than the plough had gone, to bring up the manure 
to the surface ; but all was of no use ; I lost the entire 
crop. Yet, on another occasion, stable manure on 
which hogs had been kept, at the rate of two hogs to 
each animal, gave me one of the finest lots of cabbage 
I ever raised. 

CAEE OF THE GR0WI:N^G CROP. 
xVs soon as the young plants are large enough to be 
seen with the naked eye, in with the cultivator and go 
and return once in each row, being careful not to 
have any lumps of earth cover the plants. Follow the 
cultivator immediately with the hoe, loosening the soil 
about the hills. The old rule with farmers is to culti- 
vate and hoe cabbage three times during their growth, 
and it is a rule that works very well where the crop is 
in good growing condi'ion; but if the manure is deficient, 
the soil bakes, or the plants show signs of disease, then 
cultivate and hoe once or twice extra. " Hoe cabbage 
when wet," is another farmer's axiom. In a small 
garden patch the soil may be stirred among tiie plants 
as often as may be convenient, it can do no harm ; cab- 
bages relish tending ; though it is not necessary to do 
this every day, as one enthusiastic cultivator evidently 
thought, who declared that by hoeing his cabbages every 
morning he had succeeded in raising capital heads. 



28 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

If a season of drouth occurs when the cabbages have 
begun to head, the heads will harden prematurely ; and 
then should a heavy rain fall, they will start to make a 
new growth, and the consequence will be many of them 
will split. Split or bursted cabbage are a source of 
great loss to the farmer, and this should be carefully 
guarded against by going frequently over the piece 
when the, heads are setting, and starting every cabbage 
that appears to be about mature. A stout pronged potato 
hoe applied just under the leaves, and a pull given suffi- 
cient to start the roots on one side, will accomplish what 
is needed. If cabbage that have once been started seem 
still inclined to burst, start the roots on the other side. 
Instead of a hoe they may be pushed over with the foot, 
or with the hand. Frequently, heads that are thus start- 
ed will grow to double the size they had attained when 
about to burst. 

MARKETING THE CROP. 
When preparing for market cabbages that have been 
kept over Winter, particularly if they are marketed late 
in the season, the edges of the leaves of some of the 
heads will be found to be more or less decayed ; do not 
strip such leaves off, but with a sharp knife cut clean 
off the decayed edges. The earlier the variety the 
sooner it needs to be marketed, for as a rule cabbages 
push their shoots in the Spring in the order of their 
earliness. If they have not been sufficiently protected 
from the cold, the sturnps will often rot off close to the 
head and sometimes the rot will include the part of the 
stump that enters the head. If the watery looking por- 
tion can be cut clean out, the head is salable ; otherwise 
it will be apt to have an unpleasant flavor when cooked. 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 29 

As a rule, cabbages for marketing should be trimmed 
into as compact a form as possible ; tlie heads should be 
cut off close to the stump, leaving two or three spare 
leaves to protect them. They may be brought out of 
the piece in bushel baskets, and be piled on the wagon 
as high as a hay stack, being kept in place by a stout 
canvas sheet tied closely down. In the markets of Bos- 
ton, in the fall of the year they are usually sold at a 
price agreed upon by the hundred head ; this will vary 
not only with the size and quality of the -cabbage, but 
with the season, the crop, and the quality in market on 
that particular day. Within a few years I have known 
the range of price for the Stone Mason or Fottler cab- 
bage equal in size and quality, to be from $3 to $17 per 
hundred ; for the Marblehead Mammoth from |8 to $25 
per hundred. Cabbages brought to market in the 
Spring are usually sold by weight or by the barrel, at 
from $1 to $4 per hundred pounds. 

The earliest cabbages carried to market sometimes 
bring extraordinary prices ; and this has created a keen 
competition among market gardeners, each striving to 
produce the earliest, a difference of a week in market- 
ing oftentimes making a difference of one-half in the 
profits of the crop. Capt. Wyman, who controlled the 
Early Wyman cabbage for several years, sold some 
seasons thirty thousand heads, if my memory serves 
me, at pretty much his own price. As a rule, it is the 
very early and the very late cabbages that sell most 
profitably. Should the market for very late cabbages 
prove a poor one, the farmer is not compelled to sell 
them, no matter at what sacrifice, as would be the case 
a month earlier ; he can pit them, and so keep them 
over to the early Spring market which is almost always 
a profitable one. In marketing in Spring it should be 



30 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

the aim to make sale before the crops of Spring greens 
become plenty, as these replace the cabbage on many 
tables. By starting cabbage in hot beds a crop of celery 
or squashes may follow them the same season. 

KEEPING CABBAGES THROUGH THE WINTER. 

In the comparatively mild climate of England, where 
there are but few days in the Winter months that the 
ground remains frozen to any depth, the hardy cabbage 
grows all seasons of the year, and turnips left during 
Winter standing in the ground are fed to sheep by yard- 
ing them over the different portions of the field. With 
the same impunity, in the southern portion of our own 
country the cabbages are left unprotected during the 
Winter months ; and, in the warmer portions of the 
South they are principally a Winter crop. As we ad- 
vance farther north, we find that the degree of protec- 
tion needed is aff'ordcd by running the plough along 
eacli side of the rows, turning the earth against them, 
and dropping a little litter on top of the heads. As we 
advance still farther northward, we find sufficient pro- 
tection given by but little more than a rough roof of 
boards thrown over the heads, after removing the cab- 
bages to a sheltered spot and setting them in the ground 
as near together as they will stand without being in 
contact, with the tops of the heads just level with the 
surface. 

In the latitude of New England, cabbages are not 
secure froin injury from frost with less than a foot of 
eartli thrown over the heads. In mild Winters a cover- 
ing of half that depth will be suf&cient ; but as we have 
no prophets to foretell our mild Winters, a foot of earth 
is safer than six inches. Where eel grass can be pro- 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 31 

cured along the sea coast, or there is straw or coarse hay 
to spare, the better plan is to cover with about six inches 
of earth, and when this is frozen sufficiently hard to 
bear a man's weight, (which is usually about Thanks- 
giving time) to scatter over it the eel grass, straw or 
coarse hay, to the depth of another six inches. In keep" 
ing cabbages through the Winter, three general facts 
should be borne in mind, viz. : that repeated freezing 
and thawing will cause them to rot ; that excessive 
iQoisture or warmth will also cause rot ; while a dry air, 
such as is found in most cellars, will abstract moisture 
from the leaves, injure the flavor of the cabbage, and 
cause some of the Iieads to wilt and the harder heads to 
waste. In the Middle States we have mostly to fear the 
wet of Winter, and the plan for keeping for that section 
should therefore have particularly in view protection 
from moisture, while in the northern States we have to 
fear the cold of Winter, and consequently our plan 
must there have specially in view protection from cold. 
When storing for Winter, select a dry day, if possible 
sufficiently long after rainy weather to have the leaves 
free of water, — otherwise they will spout it on to you, 
and make you the wettest and muddiest scarecrow ever 
seen off a farm, — then strip all the outer leaves from 
the head but the two last rows, which are needed to 
protect it. This may be readily done by dravv'ing in 
these two rows tov/ards the head with the left hand, 
while a blow is struck against the remaining leaves 
with the fist of tlie right hand. Next pull up the 
cabbage, which, if they are of the largest varieties, 
may be expeditiously done by a potato hoe. If they 
are not intended for seed purposes, stand the heads 
down and stumps up until the earth on the roots is 



32 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

somewhat diy, when it can be mostly removed by sharp 
blows against the stump given with a stout stick. In 
loading do not bruise the heads. Select the place for 
keeping them in a dry, level location, and if in the 
North a southern exposure, where no water can stand 
and there can be no wash. To make the pit, run the 
plough along from two to four furrows, and throw out 
the soil with the shovel to the requisite depth, which 
may be from six to ten inches ; now if the design is to 
roof over the pit, the cabbages may be put in as thickly 
as they will stand ; if the heads are solid they may be 
either head up or stump up, and two layers deep ; but 
if the heads are soft, then heads up and one deep, and 
not crowded very close that they may have room to 
make heads during the Winter. Having excavated an 
area twelve by six feet, set a couple of posts in the 
ground midway at each end, projecting about five feet 
above the surface ; connect the two by a joist secured 
firmly to the top of each, and against this, extending to 
the ground just outside the pit, lay slabs, boards or poles, 
and cover the roof that will be thus formed with six 
inches of straw or old hay, and if in the North throw 
six or eight inches of earth over this. Leave one end 
open for entrance and to air the pit, closing the other 
end with straw or hay. In the North close both ends, 
opening one of them occasionally in mild weather. 

When cabbages are pitted on a large scale this system 
of roofing is too costly and too cumbersome. A few 
thousand may be kept in a cool root cellar, by putting 
one layer heads down, and standing another layer 
heads up between these. The common practice in the 
North, when many thousands are to be storedfor Winter 
and Spring sales, is to select a southern exposure hav- 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 33 

ing the protection of a fence or wall if practicable, and 
turning furrows with the plough throw out the earth 
with shovels to the depth of about six inches ; the cab- 
bages, stripped as before described, are then stored 
closely together, and straw or coarse hay is thrown over 
them to the depth of a foot or eighteen inches. Pro- 
tected thus they are accessible for market at any time 
during the Winter. If the design is to keep them over 
till Spring, the covering may be first six inches of earth, 
to be followed as cold increases, with six inches of straw, 
litter, or eel grass. This latter is my own practice, 
with the addition of leaving a ridge of earth between 
every three or four rows to act as a support and keep 
the cabbages from falling over. I am also careful to 
bring the cabbages to the pit as soon as pulled, with the 
earth among the roots as little disturbed as possible, and 
should the roots appear to be dry, to throw a little earth 
over them after the cabbages are set in the trench. The 
few loose leaves remaining will prevent the earth from 
sifting down between the heads, and the air chambers 
thus made answer a capital purpose in keeping out the 
cold, as air is one of the best non-conductors of heat. 
It is said that muck soil when well drained is an excel- 
lent one to bury cabbage in, as its antiseptic properties 
preserve them from decay. If the object is to preserve 
the cabbage for market purposes only, the heads may be 
buried in the same position in which they grew, or they 
may be inverted, the stump having no value in itself ; 
but if for seed purposes, they must be buried head up, 
as whatever injures the stump spoils the whole cabbage 
for that object. I store between ten and fifty thousand 
heads annually to raise seed from, and carry them 
through till planting time with a degree of success 



34 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

varying from a loss for seed purposes of from one-half 
to thirty-three per cent, of the number buried ; but if 
handled early in Spring, many that would be worthless 
for seed purposes could be profitably marketed. A few 
years since I buried a lot with a depth varying from one 
to four feet, and found, on uncovering them in the 
Spring, that all had kept and apparently equally well. 
In the Winter of 1868 excessively cold weather came 
very early and unexpectedly, before my cabbage plot 
had received its full covering of litter. The consequence 
was the frost penetrated so deep that it froze through 
the heads into the stumps, and when Spring came a 
large portion of them came out spoilt for seed purposes, 
though most of them sold readily in the market. A 
cabbage is rendered worthless for seed when the frost 
strikes through the stump where it joins the head ; and 
though to the unpracticed eye all may appear right, yet, 
if the heart of the stump has a water-soaked appear- 
ance on being cut into, it will almost uniformly decay 
just below the head in the course of a few weeks after 
having been planted out. If there is a probability that 
the stumps have been frozen through, examine the plot 
early, and, if it proves so, sell the cabbages for eating 
purposes, no matter how sound and handsome the heads 
look ; if you delay until time for planting out the cab- 
bage for seed, meanwhile much waste will occur. I 
once lost heavily in Marblehead Mammoth cabbage by 
having them buried on a hill-side with a gentle slope. 
In the course of the Winter they fell over on their sides, 
which let down the soil from above, and, closing the 
air chambers between them, brought the huge heads into 
a mass, and the result was a large proportion of them 
rotted badly. At another time I lost a whole plot by 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 35 

burying them in soil between ledges of rock, which 
kept the ground very wet when Spring opened ; the con- 
sequence was every cabbage rotted. If the heads are 
frozen more than two or three leaves deep before they 
are pitted, they will not come out so handsome in the 
Spring; but cabbages are very hardy and they readily 
rally from a little freezing either in the open ground or 
after they are buried, though it is best when they are 
frozen in the open ground to let them remain there until 
the frost comes out before removing therri if it can be 
done without too much risk of freezing still deeper, as 
they handle better then, for being tougher the leaves are 
not so easily broken. If the soil is frozen to any depth 
before the cabbages are removed, the roots will be likely 
to be injured in the pulling, a matter of no consequence 
if the cabbages are intended for market, but of some 
importance if they are for seed raising. Large cab- 
bages are more easily pulled by giving them a little 
twist ; if for seed purposes this should be avoided, as it 
injures the stump. A small lot that are to be used with- 
in a month can be kept hung up by the stump in the 
cellar of a dwelling house ; they will keep in this way 
until Spring, but the outer leaves will dry and turn yel- 
low, the heads shrink some in size, and be apt to lose in 
quality. Some practice putting clean chopped straw in 
the bottom of a box or barrel, wetting it, and covering 
with heads trimmed ready for cooking, adding again 
wet straw and a layer of heads, so alternating until the 
barrel or box is filled, after which it is headed up and 
kept in a cool place, at or a little below the freezing 
point. No doubt this is an excellent way to preserve a 
small lot, as it has the two essentials to success, keep- 
ing them cool and moist. 



36 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

Instead of burying them in an upright position, after 
a deep furrow has been made the cabbages are sometimes 
laid on their sides two deep, with their roots at the bot- 
tom of the furrow, and covered with earth in this posi- 
tion. Where the Winter cUmate is so mild that a shal- 
low covering will be sufficient protection, this method 
saves much labor. 

HAVING CABBAGE MAKE HEADS IN WINTER. 

When a piece of drumhead lias been planted very 
late, (sometimes they are planted on ground broken up 
after a crop of hay has been taken from it the same 
season,) there will be a per cent, of the plants when the 
growing season is over that have not headed. With care 
almost all of these can be made to head during the 
Winter. A few years ago I selected my seed heads 
from a large piece and then sold the first " pick," of 
what remained at ten cents a head, the second at eight 
cents, and so down until all were taken for which pur- 
chasers were willing to give one cent each. Of course, 
after such a thorough selling out as this there was not 
much in the shape of a head left. I now had what re- 
mained pulled up and carted away, doubtful whether to 
feed them to the cows or to set them out to head up 
during Winter. As they were very healthy plants in 
the full vigor of growth, having rudimentary heads just 
gathering in, I determined to set them out. I had a pit 
dug deep enough to bring the tops of the heads, when 
the plants were stood upright as they grew, just above 
the surface of the ground ; I then stood the cabbages 
in without breaking off any of the leaves, keeping the 
roots well covered with earth, having the plants far 
enough apart not to crowd each other very much, though 






CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 37 

SO near as to press somewhat together the two outer 
circles of leaves. They were allowed to remain in this 
condition until it was cold enough to freeze the ground 
an inch in thickness, when a covering of coarse hay was 
thrown over them a couple of inches thick, and, as the 
cold increased in intensity, this covering was increased 
to ten or twelve inches in thickness, the additions being- 
made at two or three intervals. In the Sorin"; I uncov- 

J. Cj 

ered the lot, and found that nearly every plant had 
headed up. I sold the heads for four cents a pound, and 
these refuse cabl)ages averaged me about ten cents a 
head, which was the price my best heads brought me i)i 
the Fall. I have seen thousands of cabbages in o^ie lot, 
the refuse of several acres that had been planted on sod 
land broken up the same season a crop of hay had been 
taken from it, made to head by this course, and sold in 
the Spring for $1.30 per barrel. When there is a large 
lot of such cabbages the most economical way to plant 
them will be in furrows made by the plough. Most of 
the bedding used in covering them, if it be as coarse as 
it ought to be to admit as much air as possible while it 
should not mat down on the cabbages, will, with care in 
drying, be again available for covering another season, 
or remain suitable for bedding purposes. These '^ Win- 
ter headed" cabbages, as they are called in the market, 
are not so solid and have more shrinkage to them than 
those headed in the open ground ; hence they will not 
bear transportation as well, neither will they keep as 
long when exposed to the air. The effect of wintering 
cabbage by burying in the soil is to make them exceed- 
ingly tender for table use. 



38 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

YAKIETIES OF CABBAGE. 

If a piece of land is planted with seed grown from 
two heads of cabbage the product will bear a striking 
resemblance to the two parent cabbages, with a third 
variety which will combine the characteristics of these 
two, yet the resemblance will be somewhat modified at 
times by a little more manure, a little higher culture, a 
little better location, and the addition of an individual- 
ity that particular vegetables occasionally take upon 
themselves which we signify by the word " sport." The 
" sports" when they occur are fixed and perpetuated 
with remarkable readiness in the cabbage family, as is 
proved by the great number of varieties in cultivation, 
the numerous progeny of one ancestor. The catalogues 
of the English and French seedsmen contain long lists 
of varieties, many of which (and this is especially true 
of the early kinds) are either the same variety under a 
different name or are different ^'strains" of the same 
variety produced by the careful selections of prominent 
market gardeners through a series of years. 

Four different seasons I have experimented with for- 
eign and American varieties of cabbage to learn the 
characteristics of the different kinds, their comparative 
earliness, size, shape, and hardness of head, length of 
stump, and such other facts as would prove of value to 
market gardeners. There is one fact that every care- 
ful experimenter soon learns, that one season will not 
teach all that can be known relative to a variety, and 
that a number of specimens of each kind must be raised 
to enable one to make a fair comparison. It is amusing 
to read the dicta which appear in the agricultural press 
from those who have made but a single experiment with . 
some vegetable ; they proclaim more after a single trial 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM ETC. 39 

than a cautious experimenter would dare to declare after 
years spent in careful observation. The year 1869 I 
raised over sixty varieties of cabbage, importing nearly 
complete suites of those advertised by the leading English 
and French seed houses, and collecting the principal 
kinds raised in this country. I do not propose describ- 
ing all these in this treatise or their comparative merits ; 
of some of them I have yet something to learn, but I 
will endeavor to introduce with my description such 
notes as I think will prove of value to my fellow farmers 
and market gardeners. 

I will here say in general of the class of early cab- 
bages, that most of them have elongated heads between 
ovoid and conical in form. They appear to lack in this 
country the sweetness and tenderness that characterize 
some varieties of our drumhead, and consequently in the 
North when the drumhead enters the market tliere is 
but a limited call for them. 

It may be well here to note a fundamental distinction 
between the drumhead cabbage of England and those of 
this country. In England the drumhead class are 
almost wholly raised to feed to stock ; I venture the 
conjecture that this is owing in part, or principally, to 
the fact that, being raised for cattle, European gardeners 
have never had the motive and consequently have never 
developed the full capacity of the drumhead as exampled 
by the fine varieties raised in this country. Tlie secur- 
ing of sorts reliable for heading being therefore a matter 
of secondary consideration, seed is raised from stumps 
or any refuse heads that may be standing wlien Spring 
comes around. For this reason English drumhead cab- 
bage seed is better suited to raise a mass of leaves than 
heads, and always disappoints our American farmers 
who buy it because it is cheap with the expectation of 



40 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

raising cabbages for market. English grown drumhead 
cabbage seed is utterly worthless for use in this country 
except to raise greens or collards. 

The following are foreign varieties that are accepted 
in this country as standards, and for years have been 
more or less extensively cultivated : Early York, 
Large York, Early Oxheart, Large French Oxheart, 
Early Sugar Loaf, Early Winnigstadt, Red Dutch, 
Red Drumhead. Of these the Large French Oxheart, 
Red Drumhead and Early Winnigstadt have had a some- 
what recent introduction, the two latter having grown 
rapidly in popularity. In my experience as a seed 
dealer, the Sugar Loaf and Oxheart are losing ground 
in the farming community, the Early Jersey Wakefield 
having to a large extent replaced them. 

Early York. Heads nearly ovoid, pretty hard for 
an early sort, with few waste leaves surrounding them, 
which are of a bright green color. Reliable for heading. 
Stump rather short. Plant two feet by eighteen inches. 
This cabbage has been cultivated in England over a 
hundred years. Little Pixie and Carter's Superfine 
Early are with me each of tliem earlier tlian Early 
York, are as reliable for heading, head much harder, 
and are of better flavor ; the first does not grow as 
large, but the second I think does, and is therefore mucli 
preferable to it. 

Large York is about a fortnight later than Early 
York ; heads larger, not so long, and more solid ; leaves 
gather closer around the head ; stamps short. It is as- 
serted that this variety is less affected by heat than sev- 
eral other kinds, and hence is a good cabbage for the 
South. 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 



41 



Early Oxheart. Heads nearly egg-shaped, small, 
hard, few waste leaves, stumps short. A little later than 
Early York. Have the rows two feet apart, and the 
plants from sixteen to eighteen inches apart in the row. 

Large French Oxheart closely resembles Early 
Oxheart, but grows to double the size, and is about ten 
days later ; quality usually good. An excellent kind for 
large early, but, like all others of the oblong headed 
cabbages, must in this country be marketed before the 
drumhead class mature or the crop becomes unsalable. 

Early Sugar Loaf. Heads shaped much like a 
loaf of sugar standing on its smaller end, resembling, 
as Burr well says, a head of Cos lettuce in its shape and 
in the peculiar clasping of the leaves about the head. 
Heads rather hard, medium size ; early, and tender. It 
is said not to stand the heat as well as most sorts. 
Plant in rows two feet apart, and the plants from eigh- 
teen to twenty inches in the row. 

Early Winnigstadt. (A German cabbage.) 



:-r-rijfe:>^-> 



{- '"Sift : *, ■ I -'i S-T, ^^^ 



/•-ft/' ■ J^*^,- 




Heads nearly conical in shape having usually a twist of 



42 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

leaf at the top ; larger than Oxheart, are harder than 
any of the early oblong heading cabbages ; stumps mid- 
dling short. Matures about ten days later than Early 
York. The Winnigstadt is remarkably reliable for 
heading, being not excelled in this respect when the 
seed has been raised with care, by any cabbage grown. 
It is a capital sort for Early Market outside our large 
cities where the very early kinds are not so eagerly 
craved. It is so reliable for heading that it will often 
make fine heads where other sorts fail, and I would ad- 
vise all who have not succeeded in their efforts to grow 
cabbage to try this before giving up their attempts. It 
is raised by some for Winter use, and where the drum 
heads are not so successfully raised I would advise my 
farmer friends to try the Winnigstadt, as the heads are 
so hard that they keep without much waste. Have rows 
two feet apart, and plant twenty inches to two feet apart 
in the rows. 

Red Dutch. Heads nearly conical, medium sized, 
hard, of a very deep red ; outer leaves numerous, and 
not so red as the head, being somewhat mixed with 
green ; stump rather long. This cabbage is usually 
planted too late ; it requires nearly the whole season to 
mature. It is used for pickling, or cut up fine as a sal- 
ad served with vinegar and pepper. This is a very ten- 
der cabbage, and were it not for its color would be an 
excellent sort to boil ; to those who have a mind to eat 
it with their eyes shut, this objection will not apply. 

Red Drumhead. Like the preceding with the ex- 
ception that the heads grow round or nearly so, are 
harder, and of double the size. Care should be taken 
not to run these cabbages too large, as they will begin 
to lose in color, which lessens their value for pickling 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 43 

and salad uses. It is very difficult to raise seed from 
this cabbage in this country. I am acquainted with five 
trials made in as many different years, two of which I 
made myself, and all were nearly utter failures, the 
yield when the hardest heads were selected being at 
about the rate of two great spoonfuls of seed from every 
twenty cabbages. French seed growers are more suc- 
cessful, otherwise this seed would have to sell at a far 
higher figure in the market than any other sort. 

The Little Pixie, a recent introduction, has much 
to recommend 
it in quality, 
reliability for 
heading, and 
hardness o f 
the head ; be- 
ing earlier 
than Early 
York, though J 
somewhat ^^ 
smaller, it is 
to be lamented if it does not ultimately sweep away 
that variety. 

Among those that deserve to be heartily welcomed 
and grow in favor, are the Early Ulm Savoy (for en- 
graving and description of which see under head of Sa- 
voy,) Early Yanack, (a very early conical heading 
sort,) Early Nonpareil, (another closely allied vari- 
ety,) — both these latter being among the earliest, — and 
the St. Dennis Drumhead, a late, short-stumped sort, 
setting a large, round, very solid head, as large but 
harder than Premium Flat Dutch. The leaves are of a 
bluish green and thicker than those of most varieties of 




44 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 



drumhead. Our brethren in Canada think highly of 
this cabbage, and if we want to try a new drumhead, I 
will speak a good word for this one. 

Early Schweinfurt or Schweinfurt Quintal 
is a new but excellent early drumhead ; the heads range 
in size from ten to eighteen inches in diameter, varying 




with the conditions of cultivation more than any other 
cabbage I am acquainted with. The heads are flattish 
round, weigh from three to nine pounds when well 
grown, are very symmetrical in shape, standhig apart 
from the surrounding leaves. They are not solid, though 
they have the finished appearance that solidity gives ; 
they are remarkably tender as though blanched, and of 
very fine flavor. It is among the earliest of drumheads, 
maturing at about the same time as the Early Winnig- 
stadt. As an early drumhead for the family garden it 
has no superior ; and where the market is near and 
does not insist that a cabbage head must be hard to be 
good, it has proved a very profitable market sort. 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 45 

The following are the standard American varieties of 
cabbage ; Early Wakefield, Early Wyman, Crane's 
Early, Cannon Ball, Early Low Dutch, Premium 
Flat Dutch, Stone Mason, Large Late Drumhead, 
Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead, American Green 
Glazed, Fottler's Drumhead, Bergen Drumhead, 
Drumhead Savoy, and American Green Globe Savoy. 
All of these varieties as I have previously stated are but 
improvements of foreign kinds ; but they are so far im- 
proved through years of careful selection and cultivation, 
that as a rule they appear quite distinct from the origi- 
nal kinds when grown side by side with them, and this 
distinction is more or less recognized in both English 
and American catalogues by the adjective " American" 
or " English" being added after varieties bearing the 
same name. 

Early Wakefield, sometimes called Early Jersey 
Wakefield. — .«/^r^;v-r^-^ ^^rm.. 

Heads mostly 
nearly conical in 
shape but some- 
times nearly 
round, of good 
size for early, 
very reliable for 
heading; stumps 
short. A very 
popular ear 1 y 
cabbage in the markets of Boston and New York. Plant 
two and a half feet by two feet. 

Early Wyman. This cabbage is nais^ed after Capt. 
Wyman of Cambridge, the originator. Like Early 




46 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 




"Wakefield the heads are usually somewhat conical, but 
sometimes nearly round ; in structure they are compact. 
In earliness it ranks 
about with the Early 
Wakefield, and mak 
ing heads of double 
the size, it has a high 
value as an early 
cabbage. Captain 
Wyman had entire \ 
control of this cab- -^^^^ 
bage until within 
the past few years, and consequently has held Boston 
Market in his own hands to the chagrin of his fellow mar- 
ket gardeners, raising some seasons as many as thirty 
thousand heads. Have the rows from two to two and a 
half feet apart, and the plants from twenty to twenty-four 
inches apart in the 2:ow. Crane's Early is a cross be- 
tween the Wyman and Wakefield, intermediate in size 
and earliness. 

Premium Flat Dutch. A large, late variety; heads 
either round or 
flat, on the top, 
(varying 
with differ- 
ent strains) 
rather hard, 
color bluish" 
green, leaves 
around heads 
rather numcr 
ous ; towards 
the close of 
the season. 




CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 



47 



the edge of some of the exterior leaves and the 
top of the heads assume a purple cast. The edges of 
the exterior leaves and of the two or three that make 
the outside of the head are quite ruffled so that when 
grown side by side with Stone Mason, this distinction 
between the habit of growth of the two varieties is no- 
ticeable at quite a distance. Stumps short ; reliable for 
heading. Have the rows tliree feet apart, and the 
plants from two and a half to three feet apart in the 
rows. This cabbage is very widely cultivated, and in 
many respects is an excellent sort to raise for late mar- 
keting. 

Early Low Dutch. Heads round, medium sized, 
solid. Outside leaves few in number ; stalk thick and 
short. Medium early, tender and of good quality. Plant 
two and a half feet by two. 

Stone Mason. An improvement on the Mason, 
which cabbage was selected by Mr. John Mason of Mar- 
blehead, from a number of 
varieties of cabbage that came 
from a lot of seed purchased 
and planted as Savoys. Mr. 
John Stone afterwards im- 
proved upon the Mason cab- 
bage, by increasing the size 
of the heads. Different grow- 
ers differ in their standard 
of a Stone Mason cabbage, in earliness and lateness, 
and in the size, form and hardness of the head. But 
all these varieties agree in the characteristics of being 
very reliable for heading, in having heads, which are 
large, very hard, very tender, rich and sweet ; short 




48 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

stumps, and few waste leaves. The color of the leaves 
varies from a bluish green to a pea green, and the struc- 
ture from nearly smooth to much blistered. In their 
color and blistering some specimens have almost a Savoy 
cast. The heads of the best varieties of Stone Mason 
range in weight from six to twenty-five pounds, the dif- 
ference turning mostly on soil, manure and cultivation. 

The Stone Mason is an earlier cabbage than Premium 
Mat Dutch, has fewer waste leaves, and side by side 
under high cultivation grows to an equal or larger size, 
while it makes heads that are decidedly harder and 
sweeter. These cabbages are equally reliable for head- 
ing. I am inclined to the opinion that under poor cul- 
tivation the Premium Flat Dutch will do somewhat 
better than the Stone Mason. * 

Until the introduction of Fottler's Drumhead it was 
the standard drumhead cabbage in the markets of Bos- 
ton and other large cities of the North. Recently this 
fine cabbage has, in some localities, shown a tendency 
to rot at the stump before maturing its head. I trust 
that the trouble is but local and temporary. Have the 
rows three feet apart, and the plants from two to three 
feet apart in the row. 

Large Late Drumhead. Heads large, round, 
sometimes flattened at the top, close and firm ; loose 
leaves numerous ; stems short ; reliable for heading, 
hardy, and a good keeper. The name " Large Late 
Drumhead" includes varieties raised by Messrs. Collins 
& Anderson, Buist, and several other seedsmen in this 
country, all of which resemble each other in the above 
characteristics, and difi'er in but minor points. Have 
rows three feet apart, and plants from two and a half to 
three feet apart in the row. 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 49 

Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead. This is the 
largest of the cabbage family, having sometimes been 
grown to weigh over sixty pounds to the plant. It orig- 




inated in Marblehead, Massachusetts, being produced 
by Mr. Alley, probably from the Mason, by years of 
high cultivation and careful selection of seed stock. I 
introduced this cabbage and the Stone Mason to the 
general public many years ago, and it has been pretty 
thoroughly disseminated throughout the United States. 
Heads varying in shape between hemispherical and 
spherical, with but few waste leaves surrounding them ; 
size very large, varying from fifteen to twenty inches in 
diameter, and in some specimens they have grown to 
the extraordinary dimensions of twenty-four inches. In 
good soil and with the highest culture this variety has 
attained an average weight of thirty pounds by the acre. 
Quality when well grown remarkably sweet and tender, 
as would be inferred from the rapidity of its growth. 
Cultivate in rows four feet apart, and allow four feet be- 
tween the plants in the rows. Sixty tons of this variety 
have been raised from a single acre. 



60 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

American Green G-lazed. iSeads loose though 
rather large, with a great body of waste leaves sur- 
rounding them ; quality poor ; late ; stump long. This 
cabbage was readily distinguished among all the varie- 
ties in my experimental plot by the deep, rich green of 
the leaves with their bright lustre as though varnished. 
It is grown somewhat extensively in the South, as it is 
believed not to be so liable to injury from insects as 
other varieties. Plant two and a half feet apart each 
way. I would advise my Southern friends to try the 
merits of other kinds before adopting this poor affair. I 
know, through my correspondence, that the Mammoth 
has done well as far South as Louisiana and Cuba, and 
the Fottler in many sections of the South has given 
great satisfaction. 

Fottler's Early Drumhead. Several years ago a 
Boston Seedsman imported a lot of Cabbage seed from 
Europe, under 
the name of 
Early Bruns- 
wick Short 
Stemmed. It 
proved to be a 
large heading 
and very early 
Drumhead. 
The heads 
were fr om 
eight to eigh- 
teen inches in i 
diameter, near- 
ly flat, hard, sweet and tender in quality ; few waste 
leaves ; stump short. In earliness it was about a fort- 




CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 61 

night ahead of the Stone Mason. It was so much liked 
by the Market gardeners that the next season he ordered 
a larger quantity, but the second importation, though 
ordered and sent under the same name, proved to be a 
different and inferior kind, and the same result followed 
one or two other importations. The two gardeners who 
received seed of the first importation brought to market 
a fine large Drumhead, ten days or a fortnight ahead of 
their fellows. The seed of the true stock was eagerly 
"bought up by the Boston market gardeners, most of it at 
$5 an ounce. After an extensive trial on a large scale 
by the market farmers around Boston, and by farmers 
in various parts of the United States, Fottler's Cabbage 
has given great satisfaction, and has become a universal 
favorite, and when once known is fast replacing some of 
the old varieties of Drumhead. Mr. Tillinghast, in his 
valuable little work on gardening, ranks it emphatically 
at the head of all the drumhead family, and to those who 
intend to grow but a single variety, I would heartily 
recommend the Fottler. Very reliable for heading. 

Bergen Drumhead. Heads round, rather flat on 
the top, solid ; leaves stout, thick, and rather numerous ; 
stump short. With me, under same cultivation, it is 
later than Stone mason. It is tender and of good flavor. 
A popular sort in many sections, particularly in the 
markets of New York city. Have the plants three 
feet apart each way. 

Cannon Ball. This cabbage came originally from 
the Patent office, but as I have been unable to trace its 
parentage to any foreign country in the course of my 
experiments with varieties, I think we may as well class 
it as American by default. The heads are usually 
spherical, attaining to a diameter of from five to nine 



52 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

inches, with the surrounding leaves gathered rather 
closely around them ; in hardness and relative weight it 
is not excelled, if equalled, by any other cabbage. Stump 
short. It delights in the highest cultivation possible. 
It is about a week later than Early York. In those 
markets where cabbages are sold by weight, it will pay 
to grow for market ; it is a good cabbage for the family 
garden. 

SAVOY CABBAGE. 

The Savoys are the tenderest and richest flavored of 
cabbages, though not always as sweet as a well grown 
Stone Mason ; nor is a Savoy grown on poor soil or one 
that has been pinched by drouth as tender as a Stone 
Mason that has been grown under favoring circumstances; 
yet it remains as a rule that the Savoy surpasses all 
other cabbages in tenderness, and in a rich marrow-like 
flavor. The Savoys are also the hardiest of the cabbage 
tribe, enduring in the open field a temperature within 
sixteen degrees of zero without serious injury ; and if 
the heads are not very hard they will continue to with- 
stand repeated changes from freezing to thawing for a 
couple of months, as far north as the latitude of Boston. 
A degree of freezing improves them, and it is common 
in that latitude to let such as are intended for early 
winter use in the family remain standing in the open 
ground where they grew, cutting the heads as they are 
wanted. 

As a rule Savoys neither head as readily (the " Im- 
proved American Savoy" an exception) nor do the 
heads grow as large as the drumhead varieties ; indeed, 
most of the kinds in cultivation are so unreliable in 
these respects as to be utterly worthless for market pur- 
poses, and nearly so for the kitchen garden. 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 53 

The Drumhead Savoy sent out by Yilmorin, An- 
dreiex & Co., of France, is not sufficiently distinct 
from the Green Globe Savoy ; it is of a bluish green 
cast, not so fine in structure, and attains about the same 
size, but there is not enough of the drumhead in it to 
make the variety worthy of the name " drumhead." 
Folsom's American Drumhead Savoy, sometimes called 
Cambridge Savoy, is much superior, growing to double 
the size, while it has enough of the Savoy character in 
it to mark it strongly both for the eye a'nd the palate. 
One variety in my experimental garden, which I received 
as Tour's Savoy, (evidently a drumhead variety of the 
Savoy,) proved to be much like Early Schweinfurt in 
earliness and style of heading ; the heads were very 
large, but quite loose in structure ; I should think it 
would prove valuable for family use. 

It is a fact that does not appear to be generally known 
that we have among the Savoys some remarkably early 
sorts which rank with the earliest varieties of cabbage 
grown. Pancalier and Early Ulm Savoy are earlier 
than that old standard of earliness. Early York ; Pan- 
calier being somewhat earlier than Ulm. 

Pancalier is characterized by very coarsely blistered 
leaves of the darkest green color ; the heads usually 
gather together, being the only exception I know of to 
the rule that cabbage heads are made up of over-lapping 
leaves, wrapped closely together. It has a short stump, 
and with high cultivation is reliable for heading. The 
leaves nearest the head, though not forming a part of it, 
are quite tender and may be cooked with the head. 
Plant fifteen by thirty inches. 

Early Ulm Savoy is a few days later than Panca- 



54 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 




lier, and makes a larger head ; the leaves are of a light- 
er green and not so 
coarsely blistered; 
stump short; head round; 
very reliable for head- 
ing. It has a capital 
characteristic in not be- 
ing so liable as most va- 
rieties to burst the head 
and push the seed shoot 
immediately after the 
head is matured. For 
first early I know no cabbages so desirable as these for 
the kitchen garden. 

The Early Dwarf Savoy is a desirable variety of 
second early. The heads are rather flat in shape, and 
grow to a fair size. Stumps short ; reliable for heading. 

Improved American Savoy. Everything con- 
sidered, this is the Savoy " par excellence" for the mar- 
ket garden. It is a 
true Savoy, the 
heads gr ow t o a 
large size, from six 
to ten inches in di- 
ameter, varying, of 
course, with soil, 
manure and cultiva- 
tion. In -shape the 
heads are mostly 
globular, occasionally oblong, having but few waste 
leaves, and grow very solid. Stump short. In relia- 
bility for heading it is unsurpassed by any other cabbage. 




CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 55 

Golden Savoy differs from other varieties in the 
color of the head, which rises from the body of light 
green leaves, of a singular pale yellow color, as though 
blanched. The stumps are long, and the head rather 
small, a portion of these growing pointed. It is very 
late, not worth cultivating except as a curiosity. 

Norwegian Savoy. This is a singular half cab- 
bage, half kale — at least, so it has proved under my 
cultivation. The leaves are long, narrow, tasselated, 
and somewhat blistered. The whole appearance is very 
singular and rather ornamental. I have tried this cab- 
bage twice, but have never got beyond the possible 
promise of a head. 

Victoria Savoy, Russian Savoy and Cape 
Savoy, tested in my experimental garden, did not 
prove desirable either for family use or for market pur- 
poses. 

Feather Stemmed Savoy. This is a cross be- 
tween the Savoy and brussels sprouts, having the habit 
of growth of brussels sprouts. 

I will add notes on a few other varieties in my ex- 
perimental plot : 

Large Brunswick Short-Stemmed. (English 
seed.) Late, long stumped, wild, plenty of leaves, al- 
most no head ; bears but a slight resemblance to Fot- 
tler's Drumhead. 

Early Empress. Cabbages well; heads conical ; 
early. 

Robinson's Champion Ox Drumhead. Stump 
long ; heads soft and not very large ; wild. 

English Winnigstadt. Long stumped ; irregular; 
not to be compared with French stock. 



56 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

Blenheim. Early ; heads mostly conical ; of good 
size. 

Shillings Queen. Early ; heads conical ; stumps 
long. 

Carter's Superfine Early Dwarf. Surpasses in 
earliness and hardness of head all the early, long head- 
ed sorts, Little Pixie, to which it is evidently closely 
allied, perhaps excepted. 

Enfield Market Improved. Most of the heads 
were flat ; rather wild ; not to be compared with Fottler. 

Kemp's Incomparable. Long headed ; heads 
when mature do not appear to burst as readily as with 
most of the conical class. 

Fielderkraut. Closely resembles Winnigstadt, with 
larger and longer heads and stump ; requires more room 
than Winnigstadt. 

Ramsay's Winter Drumhead. Closely resem- 
bles St. Dennis ; I think it is the same. 

Pomeranian Cabbage. Heads very long ; quite 
large for a conical heading sort ; very symmetrical and 
hard ; color yellowish green. It handles well, and I 
should think would prove a good keeper. Medium early. 

Alsacian Drumhead. Stump long ; late ; wild. 

Marbled Bourgogne. Stump long ; heads small 
and hard ; color a mixture of green and red. 

CABBAGE GEEEKS. 

In the vicinity of our large cities, the market garden- 
ers sow large areas very thickly with cabbage seed, early 
in the Spring, to raise young plants to be sold as greens. 
The seed is sown broadcast at the rate of ten pounds 
and upwards to the acre. Seed of the Savoy cabbage 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 57 

is usually sown for this purpose, which may be some- 
times purchased at a discount, owing to some defect in 
quality or purity that would render it worthless for 
planting for a crop of heading cabbage. 

The young plants are cut off about even with the 
ground, when four or five inches high, washed, and car- 
ried to market in barrels or bushel boxes. The price 
varies with the state of the market, from 12 cents to $3 
a barrel, the average price in Boston market being about 
a- dollar. With the return of Spring most families have 
some cabbage stumps remaining in the cellar ; these can 
be planted about a foot apart in some handy spot along 
the edge of the garden, where they will not interfere 
with the general crop, setting them under ground from 
a quarter to a half their length, depending on the length 
of the stumps. They will soon be covered with green 
shoots, which should be used as greens before the blos- 
som buds show themselves, as they then become too 
strong to be agreeable. If the spot is rich and has been 
well dug, the rapidity of growth is surprising ; and if 
the shoots are frequently gathered, many nice messes of 
greens can be grown from a few stumps. Farmers in 
Northern Vermont tell me, that if they break off each 
seed shoot as soon as it shows itself, close home to the 
stump, nice little heads will push out on almost every 
stump. In England, where the Winter climate is much 
milder than that of New England, it is the practice to 
raise a second crop of heads in this way. I have seen 
an acre from which a crop of drumhead cabbage had 
been cut off early in the season, every stump on which 
had from three to six hard heads, varying from the size 
of a hen's egg to that of a goose egg ; but to get this 
second growth of heads as much of the stump and leaves 
should be left as possible, when cutting out the original 



68 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

head. As in the cabbage districts of the North little or 
no use is made of this prolific after growth, it is worse 
than useless to suffer the ground to be exhausted by it ; 
the stump should be pulled by the potatoe hoe as soon 
as the heads are marketed. 

When cabbages are planted out for seed, if for any 
reason the seed shoot fails to push out, and at times 
when it does push out, fine sprouts for greens will start 
below the head ; when the stock of these sprouts be- 
comes too tough for use, the large leaves may be stripped 
from them and cooked. I usually break ofF the tender 
tops of large sprouts, and then strip off the tenderest of 
the large leaves below. 

CABBAGE FOE STOCK 

No vegetable raised in the temperate zone. Mangold 
"Wurtzel alone excepted, will produce as much food to the 
acre, both for man and beast, as the cabbage. I have 
seen acres of the Marblehead Mammoth drumhead which 
would average thirty pounds to each cabbage, some spec- 
imens weighing over sixty pounds. The plants were 
four feet apart each way, which would give a product of 
forty tons to the acre ; and I have tested a crop of Fot- 
tler's that yielded thirty tons of green food to the half 
acre. Other vegetables are at times raised for cattle feed, 
such as potatoes, carrots, ruta bagas, mangold wurtzels ; 
a crop of potatoes yielding four hundred bushels to 
the acre at sixty pounds the bushel would weigh twelve 
tons ; a crop of carrots yielding twelve hundred bush, 
els to the acre would weigh thirty tons ; and ruta bagas 
sometimes yield thirty tons, and mangolds as high as 
seventy tons to the acre. I have set all these crops at a 
high capacity for fodder purposes ; the same favoring 
conditions of soil, manure, and cultivation that would 
produce four hundred bushels of potatoes, twelve hun- 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 59 

dred bushels of carrots, and thirty-five tons of ruta baga 
turnips, would give a crop of forty tons of the largest 
variety of drumhead cabbage. If we now consider the 
comparative merits of these crops for nutriment, we 
find that the cabbage excels them all in this department 
also. The potato abounds in starch, the mangold and 
carrot are largely composed of water, while the cabbage 
abounds in rich, nitrogenous food, ranking in nutriment 
almost side by side with the flesh of animals, 

When cabbage is kept for stock feed later than the 
first severe frost, if the quantity is large there is con- 
siderable waste even with the best of care. The loose 
leaves should be fed first, and the heads kept on the 
stump in a cool place, not more than two or three deep, 
at as near the freezing point as possible. If it has been 
necessary to cut the heads from the stumps, they may be 
piled, after the weather has set in decidedly cold, con- 
veniently near the barn, and kept covered with a foot of 
straw or old litter. As long as a cabbage is kept frozen 
there is no waste to it ; but if it be allowed to freeze 
and thaw two or three times, it will soon rot with an 
awful stench. On the other hand, if it is kept in too 
warm and dry a place, the outer leaves will dry, turning 
yellow, and the whole head lose in weight, — if it be not 
very hard, shriveling, and if hard, shrinking. If they 
are kept in too warm and wet a place, the heads will de- 
cay fast, in a black, soft rot. The best way to preserve 
cabbages for stock into the winter is to place them in 
trenches a few inches below the surface, and there cover 
with from a foot to two feet of coarse hay or straw, the 
depth depending on the coldness of the locality. When 
the ground has been frozen too hard to open with a 
plough or spade, I have kept them until Spring by piling 



60 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

them loosely, hay-stack shape, about four feet high, let- 
ting the frost strike through them, and afterwards cov- 
ering with a couple of feet of eel grass ; straw or coarse 
hay would doubtless do as well. 

I have treated of cabbage thus far when grown spec- 
ially for stock ; in every piece of cabbage handled for 
market purposes, there is a large proportion of waste 
suitable for stock feed, which includes the outside leaves 
and such heads as have not hardened-up sufficiently for 
market. On walking over a piece of three or four acres 
one Fall, just after my cabbages for seed stock had been 
taken off, I noted that the refuse leaves that were strip- 
ped from the heads before pulling were so abundant that 
they nearly covered the ground. If leaves so stripped 
remain exposed to frost, they soon spoil j or, if earlier 
in the season they are exposed to the sun, they soon be- 
come yellow, dry, and of but little value. They can be 
rapidly collected with a hay fork and carted, if there be 
but a few, into the barn ; should there be a large quan- 
tity, dump them within a convenient distance of the 
barn or feeding ground, but not where the cattle can 
trample them, and spread them so that they shall be 
but a few inches in depth. If piled in heaps they will 
quickly heat ; but even then, if not too much decayed, 
cattle will eat them with avidity. 

If cabbage is fed to cows in milk without some care, 
it will be apt to give the milk a strong cabbage flavor ; 
all the feed for the day should be given early in the 
morning. Beginning with a small quantity, and gradu- 
ally increasing it, the dairyman will soon learn his lim- 
its. The effect of a liberal feed to milk stock is to in- 
crease the flow of milk, under some circumstances more 
than two fold. Avoid feeding to any extent while the 
leaves are frozen. 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 61 

An English writer says ; " The cabbage comes into 
use when other things begin to fail, and it is by far the 
best succulent vegetable for milking cows — keeping up 
the yield of milk, and preserving better than any other 
food some portion of the quality which cheese loses 
when the cows quit their natural pasturage. Cows fed 
on cabbages are always quiet and satisfied, while on 
turnips they often scour and are restless. When frosted 
they are liable to produce hoven unless kept in a warm 
shed to thaw before being used ; fifty-six pounds given? 
at two meals, are as much as a large cow should have in 
a day. Frequent cases of abortion are caused by an 
over supply of green food. Cabbages are excellent for 
young animals, keeping them in health, and preventing 
' black leg.' A calf of seven months may have twenty 
pounds a day." 

EAISING CABBAGE SEED. 

Cabbage seed in England, particularly of the drum- 
head sorts is mostly raised from stumps, or from the 
refuse that remains after all that is salable has been dis- 
posed of. The agent of one of the largest English seed 
houses, a few years since, laughed at my " wastefulness" 
as he termed it, in raising seed from solid heads. In 
this country cabbage seed is mostly raised from soft, 
half-formed heads, which are grown as a late crop, few, 
if any of them, being hard enough to be of any value in 
the market. Seedsmen practice selecting a few fine 
hard heads from which to raise their seed stock. It has 
been my practice to grow seed from none but extra fine 
heads, better than the average of those carried to mar- 
ket. I do this on the theory that no cabbage can be too 
good for a seed head, if the design is to keep the stock 
first class. Perhaps such strictness may not be necessa- 



62 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

ry, but I had rather err in setting out too good heads 
than too poor ones ; besides, the great hardness obtained 
by the heads of the Stone Mason makes it possible, at 
least, that 1 am right. Cabbage raised from seed grown 
from stumps are apt to be unreliable for lieading and to 
grow long-stumped, though under unfavorable conditions 
long stumped and poor headed cabbage may grow from 
the best of seed. To have the best of seed all shoots 
that start below the head should be broken off. The 
shoots should be protected from the wind by being tied 
to stakes, and scarecrows should be set up, or some like 
precaution be taken to keep away the little seed birds 
that begin to crack the pods as soon as they commence 
to ripen. A plaster cat is a very good scarecrow to 
frighten away birds from seed and small fruits, if its 
location is changed every few days. 

I find that the pods of cabbage seed grown South are 
tough, and not brittle like those grown North, and hence 
that they are injured but little, if any, by seed birds* 
When the seed pods have passed what seedsmen call 
their " red" stage, they begin to harden ; as soon as a 
third of them are brown the entire stalk may be cut and 
hung up in a dry, airy place, for a few days, when the 
seed will be ready for rubbing or threshing out. Differ- 
ent varieties should be raised far apart to insure purity ; 
and cabbage seed had better not be raised in the vicinity 
of turnip seed. There is some difference of opinion as 
to the effect of growing these near each other ; where 
the two vegetables blossom at the same time, I should 
fear an admixture. When the care requisite to select 
good seed stock and the trouble of keeping it over win- 
ter, planting it in isolated locations, protecting it from 
wind and weather, guarding it from injury from birds 
and other enemies, gathering it, cleaning it, are all 
considered, few men will find that they can afford to 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 63 

raise their own seed, provided they can buy it from re- 
liable seedsmen. 

COOKIKG CABBAGE, SOUR KROUT, &c. 

Cabbage when boiled with salt pork, as it is mostly 
used, is the food for strong and healthy digestive powers; 
but when eaten in its raw state served with vinegar and 
pepper it is considered one of the most easily digested 
articles of diet. In the process of cooking, even with 
the greatest care, a large portion of the sweetness is 
lost. The length of time required to cook cabbage by 
boiling varies with the quality, those of the best quality 
requiring about twenty minutes, while others require an 
hour. In cooking put it into boiling water in which a 
little salt or soda has been sprinkled which will tend to 
preserve the natural green color. It will be well to 
change the water once. The peculiar aroma given out 
by cabbage when cooking is thought to depend some- 
what on the manner in which it is grown ; those having 
been raised with the least rank manure having the least. 
I think this one of the whims of the community. 

To Pickle, select hard heads, quarter them, soak in 
salt and water four or five days, then drain and treat as 
for other pickles, with vinegar spiced to suit. 

For Cold Slaw, select hard heads, halve and then 
slice up these halves exceedingly fine. Lay these in a 
deep dish, and pour over vinegar that has been raised 
to the boiling point in which has been mixed a little 
pepper and salt. 

Sour Krout. Take large, hard headed drumheads, 
halve and cut very fine, then pack in a clean, tight bar- 
rel, beginning with a sprinkling of salt and following 
with a layer of cabbage, and thus alternating until the 



64 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

barrel is filled. Now compact the mass as much as 
possible by pounding, after which put on a well fitting 
cover resting on the cabbage, and lay heavy weights or 
a stone on this. When fermented it is ready for use. 
To prepare for the table fry in butter or fat. 

The outer green leaves of cabbages are sometimes 
used to line a brass or copper kettle in which pickles are 
made, in the belief that the vinegar extracts the color- 
ing substance (chlorophyl) in the leaves, and the cucum- 
bers absorbing this acquire a rich green color. Be not 
deceived by this transparent cheat, simple housewife ! 
the coloring matter comes almost wholly from the copper 
or brass behind those leaves ; and, instead of an inno 
cent vegetable pigment, your green cucumbers are dyed 
with the poisonous carbonate of copper. 

CABBAGES UNDEE GLASS. 

The very early cabbages usually bringing very high 
prices, the enterprising market gardener either winters 
young plants under glass or starts them there, planting 
the seed under its protecting shelter long before the cold 
of Winter is passed. When the design is to winter over 
Fall grown plants, the seed are planted in the open 
ground about the middle of September and at about the 
last of October they are ready to go into the cold frames, 
as such are called that depend wholly on the sun for 
heat. Select those having short stumps and transplant- 
into the frames, about an inch and a half by two inches 
apart, shading them with a straw mat or the like for a 
few days, after which let them remain without any glass 
over them until the frost is severe enough to begin to 
freeze the ground, then place over the sashes, but bear in 
mind that the object is not to promote growth, but as 
nearly as possible to keep them in a dormant state, ta 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 65 

keep them so cold that they will not grow, and just suf- 
ficiently protected to prevent injury from freezing. With 
this object in view the sashes must be raised whenever 
the temperature is above freezing, and this process will 
so harden the plants that they will receive no serious in- 
jury though the ground under the sash should freeze two 
inches deep ; cabbage plants will stand a temperature of 
fifteen to twenty degrees below the freezing point. A 
covering of snow on the sash will do no harm, if it does 
not last longer than a week or ten days, in .which case it 
must be removed. There is some danger to be feared 
from ground mice, who, when everything else is locked 
up by the frost will instinctively take to the sash, and 
there cause much destruction among the plants unless 
these are occasionally examined. When March opens 
remove the sash when the temperature will allow, re- 
placing it when the weather is unseasonably cold, par- 
ticularly at night. The plants may be brought still 
farther forward by transferring them from the hot bed 
when two or three inches high to cold frames, having 
first somewhat hardened them. When so transferred 
plant them about an inch apart, and shield from the sun 
for two or three days. After this they may be treated 
as in cold frames. The transfer tends to keep their 
stock, increases the fibrous roots and makes the plants 
hardier. As the month advances it may be left entirely 
off, and about the first of April the plants may be set 
out in the open field, pressing fine earth firmly about 
the roots. 

When cabbages are raised in hot beds the seed in the 
latitude of Boston should be planted the first of March; 
in that of New York about a fortnight earlier. When 
two or three inches high, which will be in three or four 



^6 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

weeks, they should be thinned to about four or less to an 
inch in the row. They should now be well hardened by 
partly drawing off the sashes in the warm part of the 
day, and covering at night ; as the season advances re- 
move the sashes entirely by day, covering only at night. 
By about the middle of April the plants will be ready 
for the open ground. 

When raised in cold frames in the Spring, the seed 
should be planted about the first of April, mats being 
used to retain by night the solar heat accumulated dur- 
ing the day. As the season advances the same process 
of hardening will be necessary as with those raised in 
hot beds. 

COLD FEAME AISTD HOT BED. 

To carry on hot beds on a large scale successfully is 
almost an art in itself — and for fuller details I will refer 
my readers to works on gardening. Early plants in a 
small way may be raised in flower pots or boxes in a 
warm kitchen window. It is best if practicable, to have 
but one plant in each pot that they may grow short and 
stocky. If the seed are not planted earlier than April 
for out of door cultivation a cold frame will answer. 

For a Cold Frame select the locality in the Falh 
choosing a warm location on a southern slope, protected 
by a fence or building on the north and northwest. Set 
posts in the ground, nail two boards to these parallel to 
each other, one about a foot in height, and the other 
towards the south about four inches narrower ; this will 
give the sashes resting on them the right slope to shed 
the rain and receive as much heat as possible from the 
sun. Have these boards at a distance apart equal to 
the length of the sash, which may be any common win- 
dow sash for a small bed, while three and a half feet is 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 67 

the length of a common gardener's sash. If common 
window sash is used cut channels in the cross bars to let 
the water run off. Dig the ground thoroughly (it is best 
to cover it in the Fall with litter to keep the frost out) 
and rake out all stones or clods ; then slide in the sash 
and let it remain closed three or four days that the soil 
may be warmed by the sun's rays. The two end boards 
and the bottom board should rise as high as the sash to 
prevent the heat escaping, and the bottom board of a 
small frame should have a strip nailed inside to rest the 
sash on. Next rake in thoroughly guano or phosphate 
or finely pulverized hen manure, and plant in rows four 
to six inches apart. As the season advances raise the 
sashes an inch or two in the middle of the day and wa- 
ter freely at evening with water that is nearly of the 
temperature of the earth in the frame. As the heat of 
the season increases whitewash the glass and keep them 
more and more open until just before the plants are set 
in*open ground, then allow the glass to remain entirely 
off both day and night unless there should be a cold rain. 
This will harden them so that they will not be apt to be 
injured by the cabbage beetle, as well as chilled and put 
back by the change. Should the plants be getting tco 
large before the season for transplanting, they should be 
checked by drawing a sharp knife within a couple of 
inches of the stalk. If it is desirable to check their 
growth or harden them, transplant into another cold 
frame, allowing each plant double the distance it before 
occupied. 

The structure and management of a Hot Bed is much 
the same as that of a Cold Frame, with the exception 
that the sashes are usually longer and the back and 
front somewhat higher ; being started earlier the requi- 



68 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

site temperature has to be kept up by artificial means, 
fermenting manure being relied upon for the purpose, 
and the loss of this heat has to be checked more care- 
fully by straw matting, and in the far North by shutters 
also. In constructing it horse manure with plenty of 
litter and about a quarter its bulk in leaves, if attaina- 
ble, all having been well mixed together, is thrown into 
a pile, and left for a few days until steam escapes, when 
the mass is again thrown over and left for two or three 
days more, after which it is thrown into the pit (or it 
may be placed directly on the surface) which is lined 
with boards, from eighteen inches to two feet in depth, 
when it is beaten down with a fork and trodden well to- 
gether. The sashes are now put on and kept there until 
heat is developed. The first intense heat must be al- 
lowed to pass off, which will be in about three days after 
the high temperature is reached. Now throw on six or 
eight inches of fine soil in which mix well rotted ma- 
nure free from all straw, or rake in thoroughly Super- 
phosphate or Guano, at the rate of two thousand pounds 
to the acre and plant the seed as in Cold Frame. Hard- 
en the plants as directed in preceding paragraph. 

CAULIFLOWEE, BEOCCOLI, BRUSSELS SPROUTS, 
KALE, AND SEA KALE. 

My treatise on the cabbage would hardly be complete 
without some allusion to such prominent members of 
the Brassica family as the cauliflower, broccoli, brussels 
sprouts, and kale. These in the selection and prepara- 
tion of the soil, manure, and cultivation require for the 
most part the same treatment as cabbage. In Europe 
there has been far more progress made in the cultiva- 
tion and use of these vegetables than with us in Ameri- 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 69 

ca ; and I am indebted to the work of Mcintosh for 
many of my ideas in this section. The Broccoli are 
closely allied to the cauliflower, the white varieties bear- 
ing so close a resemblance that one of them, the Wal- 
cheren, is by some classed indiscriminately with each. 
The chief distinction between the two is in hardiness, 
the broccoli being much the hardier. 

The Cauliflower require the same distance apart 
in the rows and between the plants as cabbage, the early 
and late varieties corresponding in this respect with the 
early and late varieties of cabbage. To perfect them the 
very highest cultivation possible is required ; give them 
strong, deep soil, very thoroughly worked ; use liquid 
manure freely and water abundantly. A fine cauliflower 
is the pet achievement of the market gardener. The 
great aim is not to produce size only, " but the fine, 
white, creamy color, compactness, and what is techni- 
cally called curdy appearance, from its resemblance to 
the curd of milk in its preparation for cheese. When 
the flower begins to open, or when it is of a warty or 
frost-like appearance, it is less esteemed. It should not 
be cut in summer above a day before it is used." The 
cauliflower is served with milk and butter, or it may be- 
come a component of soups, or be used as a pickle. 
Many of the varieties given in catalogues are but syno- 
nyms of, and very closely resemble each other. Among 
the most desirable for cultivation are Extra Early Er- 
furt, Half Early Paris or Demi Dur, (this is the kind 
usually sold in this country as Early Paris, the true va- 
riety making so small a head as to be comparatively 
worthless here) Walcheren, Large Asiatic, Nonpa- 
reil, Lenormand. 



70 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 

The leaves of the Extra Early Erfurt growing close 
to the head permit its being planted nearer than any 
other early sort. I have grown this variety with heads 
fifteen inches in diameter. 

Of Broccoli over forty varieties are named in foreign 
catalogues, of which Walcheren is one of the very best. 
Knight's Protecting is an exceedingly hardy dwarf 
sort. As a rule the white varieties are preferred to the 
purple kinds. Plant and treat as cauliflower. 

Of Brussels Sprouts (or bud-bearing cabbage) 
there are but two varieties, the dwarf and the tall ; the 
tall kind produces more buds, while the dwarf is the 
hardier. The " sprouts" form on the stalks, and are 
miniature heads of cabbage from the size of a pea to 
that of a pigeon's egg. They are raised to but a limited 
extent in this country, but in Europe they are grown on 
a large scale. The sprouts may be cooked and served 
like cabbage, though oftentimes they are treated more 
as a delicacy and served with butter or some rich sauce. 
The Feather Stem Savoy and Dalmeny Sprouts are 
considered as hybrids, the one between the brussels 
sprouts and Savoy, the other between it and Drumhead 
Savoy. The soil for brussels sprouts should not be so 
rich as for cabbage, as the object is to grow them small 
and solid. Give the same distance apart as for early 
cabbage, and the same manner of cultivation. Break 
off the leaves at the sides a few at a time when the 
sprouts begin to form and when they are ready to use 
cut them off with a sharp knife. 

Kale. Sea kale or sea cabbage is a native of the sea 
coast of England, growing in the sand and pebbles of 
the sea shore. It is a perennial, perfectly hardy, with- 



CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 71 

standing the coldest winters of New England. The 
blossoms, though bearing a general resemblance to those 
of other members of the cabbage family, are yet quite 
unique in appearance, and I think worthy of a place in 
the flower garden. It is propagated both by seed and 
by cuttings of the roots, having the rows three feet 
apart, and the plants three feet apart in the rows. It is 
difficult to get the seeds to vegetate. Plant seed in 
April and May. The ground should be richly manured 
and deeply and thoroughly worked. It is -blanched be- 
fore using. In cooking it requires to be very thorough- 
ly boiled, after which it is served up in melted butter 
and toasted bread. The sea kale is highly prized in 
England, but thus far its cultivation in this country has 
been very limited. 

The Borecole or common kale is of the cabbage 
family, but is characterized by not heading like the cab- 
bage or producing eatable flowers like the cauliflower 
and broccoli. The varieties are very numerous, some 
of them growing very large and coarse, suitable only as 
food for stock ; others are exceedingly finely curled, and 
• excellent for table use ; while others in their color and 
structure are highly ornamental. They are annual, bi- 
ennial, and perennial. They do not require so strong a 
soil or such high manuring as other varieties of the cab- 
bage family. 

The varieties are almost endless ; some of the best in 
cultivation for table use are Dwarf Green Curled or 
German Greens, Tall Green Curled, Purple Bore- 
cole, and the variegated kales. The crown of the plant 
is used as greens, or as an ingredient in soups. The 
kales are very hardy, and the dwarf varieties with but 
little protection can be kept in the North well into the 



72 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 



, x±^JlJ J.XJ vjxkw.T xxxi^iii., 



Winter in the open ground. Plant and cultivate like 
Savoy cabbage. 

The variegated sorts with their fine curled leaves of 
a rich purple, green, red, white, or yellow color, are very 
pleasing in their effects, and form a striking and attrac- 
tive feature when planted in clumps in the flower garden- 
particularly is this so because their extreme hardiness 
leaves them in full vigor after the cold has destroyed 
all other plants, — some of the richest colors are devel- 
oped along the veins of the uppermost leaves after the 
plant has nearly finished its growth for the season. The 
Jersey Cow Kale grows to from three to six feet in 
height and yields a great body of green food for stock ; 
have the rows about three feet apart, and the plants two 
to three feet distant in the rows. In several instances 
my customers have written me that this kale raised for 
stock feed has given them great satisfaction. 

The Thousand Headed Kale is a tall variety send- 
ing out numerous side shoots, whence the name. 



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